The Council of Ministers approved, on 11th of May last, the Private Investment Law Proposal and discussed two related Decree-Laws – the Decree-Law that approves the Statutes of the Specialized Investment Agency and the Government Decree that regulates the Private Investment Proceedings.
The Specialized Investment Agency, named “Invest Timor-Leste”, will succeed to the Institute for the Promotion of External Investment and Exportation and the Institute for the Support of Business Development.
According to the Vice-Minister of Economy and Development, Cristiano da Costa, “in this new Investment Law, the reasoning is to join the two previous Investment Laws: the External Investment Law and the Domestic Investment Law. Now we are going to have a single Investment Law” Cristiano da Costa explains, adding that “the Law was already submitted to the National Parliament for appreciation, we expect it will be approved this year still”.
In this new Private Investment Law the distinction regarding nationality or investors’ residency were abolished, as an answer to the need in attracting large scale private investment to the country. “With this law we will be able to clarify the State’s position regarding foreign investors, as well as foreign investors obligations towards the State, and the concessions that can be made, leasing rights, at last everything is in the new Law proposal approved by the Council of Ministers on the 11th of May and which is in the Parliament at this moment” concluded Cristiano da Costa.