East Timor - 2007
East Timor, one of the world's smallest nations, is also one of its poorest. Most of its 800,000 people depend for a living on subsistence farming and fishing and live outside the cash economy, with only about 25,000 receiving a regular wage, on average less than $200 a year.
There are potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves in the Timor Gap, an area lying in the sea between the island and Australia. The two nations signed a deal that will give east Timor $180m in annual oil and gas royalties over 20 years. Oil is regarded as the savior, offering the chance of a steady income stream to underpin the spending on education, health and skills training that East Timor desperately needs.
There are potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves in the Timor Gap, an area lying in the sea between the island and Australia. The two nations signed a deal that will give east Timor $180m in annual oil and gas royalties over 20 years. Oil is regarded as the savior, offering the chance of a steady income stream to underpin the spending on education, health and skills training that East Timor desperately needs.
