Meeting of the Council of Ministers of March 22nd, 2016
Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Sixth Constitutional Government
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Dili, March 22nd, 2016
Meeting of the Council of Ministers of March 22nd, 2016
The Council of Ministers met this Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016, at the Government Palace in Dili, and approved:
1. Decree-law on Offshore Oil Operations
Article 31 of Law No. 13/2005, which adopted the rules for petroleum activities, empowers the Government to publish this Decree-Law, ensuring the attractiveness and competitiveness of investments in the research and exploration of petroleum resources in the country. This approval also aims at preventing pollution, allowing effective monitoring, supervision and inspection of petroleum operations and contributing to achieving Timor-Leste’s objectives and general development priorities.
2. Decree-law on Licensing of Electrical Energy and Tariffs Regulation
The electricity sector contributes strongly to the promotion of the country’s economic growth and to the development of its social fabric. It is up to Government to create conditions enabling access for a growing number of users and, simultaneously, to intervene in the coordination and supervision of this sector. Thus, the present Decree-Law intends for the National Electricity System to be progressively consolidated and modernized.
The Council of Ministers also reviewed:
1. Cooperation Protocol between the Ministry of Education of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic
To improve the quality of education in Timor-Leste, to train teachers and develop the area of Portuguese Language as a teaching tool, a new three year cooperation protocol was signed, through the "Train More Project - Continuous Teachers Training" (“Projeto Formar Mais – Formação Contínua de Professores”), ending in 2018. This protocol continues the "Initial and continuous teachers training Project - 2012-2014" (“Projeto de formação inicial e contínuo de professores - 2012-2014”) and now extends to the strengthening of technical-scientific, didactic-pedagogical and linguistic-communicative capacities of teachers and school directors of the Secondary and 3rd Cycle of Basic Education.
2. Timor Gap, EP Business Plan
The Timorese public company presented its business plan for the period 2016 to 2035. The objective of the company is to promote the oil sector’s good governance, ensure national energy security, develop human capital and their aptitudes and introduce improvements, in particular in the respective infrastructure, aiming at economic growth. The Council of Ministers decided to set up an Inter-ministerial Commission to analyse the feasibility of Government investment, in terms of operations (exploration and studies) and small investments. This Commission, includes the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Strategic Investment and the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
