Prime Minister participates in the launch of a company that promotes and distributes national coffee in the Australian and regional markets
The Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, attended the launching ceremony of the Orijem Timor company, on February 7th, 2023, in Canberra, Australia.
The Orijem Timor Project aims to connect Timorese coffee producers with importing, processing, roasting and distribution companies of quality organic coffees in the Australian and regional markets, promoting the exchange of producers, distributors and consumers.
The co-directors and founders of Orijem Timor Company, namely: Mr Habib Maarbani, from Project Origin (responsible for the selection of coffees of controlled origin); Mr Gobie Rajalingam and Mr Daniel Leong; and Mr Troy Huckstepp, a veteran of the 4th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, who has also become a great promoter of Coffee of Timor Origin, participated in the ceremony.
The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Adaljiza Magno, the Ambassador of Timor-Leste in Canberra, Inês Almeida and the Australian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Bill Costello. The event also had significant participation from the local community, emphasising the Members of the Timor-Leste Friendship Group.
In addition to promoting Timor-Leste's quality-controlled organic coffee, the project also disclosed the historical background of the Timor-Leste Hybrid. This species makes the genetic link between Arabica and Robusta.
In this regard, it has been highlighted the role that this hybrid played in the 1950s in saving coffee plants from a disease known as coffee rust, which decimated coffee plantations worldwide.
Participants in the ceremony learned that the coffee we drink today on all continents originates in the Timorese hybrid, known under the technical designation of Catimor or Sarshimor in Brazil.
The ceremony also included some presentations of the activities carried out by Orijem Timor in several locations in Timor-Leste and on the training program that has recently started with young Timorese in Australia.
For more information, visit the Orijem Timor Project page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orijemtimor
