Australia, UN mission in East Timor sign $1.4 billion
gas exploration accord
23 February -- The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), acting on behalf of the territory, signed today an agreement with the Government of Australia for a $1.4 billion gas exploitation plan in the Timor Gap.
According to the agreement, known as the Byun Undan Gas Recycling Development Plan, a consortium of six companies from the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia and led by the US company, Philips Petroleum, will explore for liquid gas - mainly propane and butane - in the Timor Gap. Phillips Petroleum agreed to train and employ East Timorese in the plan, UNTAET told the press in Dili.
The spokesman said the exploration would not begin until January 2004, and the first proceeds were likely to take even more time. The Byun Undan is an area that has never been exploited.
"This is the biggest investment ever made in East Timor," an UNTAET spokesman said, "and probably the largest private sector deal ever signed by the United Nations."
In other news, the Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Shigemitsu Sugisaki, said today in Dili that the IMF "can not provide direct financial assistance, " but that it plans to coordinate experts on payment, banking supervision, tax and treasury management, custom registration and procurement.
"We will certainly fulfill our commitment," Mr. Sugisaki said.
