A Member of National Parliament asked the government to stop importing drinking water into the country, because Timor-Leste is also rich with water.
MP Francisco Branco said until now Timor-Leste has selected imported products, especially with drinking water, which comes from abroad.
“The containers come from other countries everyday and go back empty, I think we must look into this as Timor-Leste is richer with water than other countries,” said MP Branco in National Parliament.
He added the government should start being selective about products imported from abroad and Timorese entrepreneurs should start to think about investing in things that Timor has, not just relying on products from abroad.
He said products not worthy of importing included water, plastic and other basic necessities, as through imports there could be an impact on public health because of the inundation of rubbish.
Secretary of State for Support and Promotion of the Private Sector Veneranda E. M. Lemos Martins said they would make an effort to promote Timor better so investors would come to invest in the nation.
“I think at this time we could motivate the private sector to reinvest in the manufacturing of drinking water, and this would be very good,” she said.
The Secretary of State said this year there had been 18 investors who received an investment certificate to invest in the country, with various activities including the production of drinking water.
Of those investors, nine were foreigners and the other nine were Timorese, as they could minimize the tax on imports.
“If we invest in Timor there’s no injection into tax for five years and we don’t pay tax on importing goods,” she said.
