Statement by the Spokesperson of the IV Constitutional Government on February 19, 2010
The Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers and
Official Spokesperson for the Government of Timor-Leste
Díli, February 19, 2010
FreeBalance delegation visits Timor-Leste
Another step toward the Gusmão Government’s goal to make the Public Finance Management of Timor-Leste among the most transparent and accountable in the world was achieved this month as a high level delegation from FreeBalance visited the country by invitation of the Ministry of Finance.
FreeBalance, a Canadian company that is currently helping Timor-Leste and some 18 other countries around the world accelerate growth, provides software solutions for public financial and human resource management, supporting reform and modernization to improve governance, transparency and accountability.
The FreeBalance delegation included President & CEO Manuel Pietra, Asia & Pacific Regional Director Kamran Khan, Director of Global Marketing Matthew Olivier, Director of Quality Assurance & Customer Support Gerard Rao, Senior Product Consultant Aldo Sagastume and the Director of Public Sector, David Nummy.
Consultations and meetings were conducted with the Prime Minister, His Excellency Xanana Gusmão, the President, His Excellency Jose Ramos Horta, The Minister of Finance, Her Excellency Emilia Pires, the Council of Ministers, National Parliament, Commission C, and representatives from line ministries, civil society, the private sector, and development partners.
The broad range of meetings provided an overview of how the public financial management goals and objectives of the Government of Timor-Leste can be addressed with the comprehensive suite of Government Resource Planning solutions offered by FreeBalance.
This new technology will produce at least two portals for the public via a web-based interface. One is called the Transparency Portal where the public can access real time information on how the state funds are being executed including details like amounts allocated, timing of the project, location of the project, and under which program the project is being implemented.
The other is a Procurement Portal that gives access to information on the procurement plans of the Government, categorized into sectors; providing the business community equitable participation and adequate preparation time to complete and submit the tender process.
Once the procurement process starts, it can be monitored through a workflow system, disclosing to the public how the procurement process was implemented, which procurement method was utilized according to the procurement laws of Timor-Leste, the process of evaluation, the names of companies and bidders and the amount allocated to the successful bidder.
The public will be able to track the budget live, to see where every dollar is being spent for assessment and scrutiny against the objectives of the Government; with visibility to the outcome of any given project.
After two days of successful meetings, The President and CEO of FreeBalance, Mr. Manuel Pietra, said “The Government of Timor-Leste is in a unique position to achieve breakthrough performance in public financial management, accountability, and transparency. The Government has demonstrated leadership through successful capacity building programs and the phased implementation of government resource planning solutions over time to build the foundation for sustainable growth and economic development.”
The Public Finance Management initiative is part of an overall strategy by the Xanana Gusmão Government to improve governance, strengthen systems and provide a more transparent and accountable Government for the people of Timor-Leste.
