Conference on East Timor

Conference on East Timor

CANBERRA (AFP): Officials of the UN, the World Bank and various Australian government departments will meet here next week to help businesses plan the rebuilding of East Timor, officials said Friday.

A trade conference organized by the Australian government's trading arm, Austrade, and aid agency, AusAID, will aim to provide a detailed overview of reconstruction requirements for the devastated territory.

It was left in rubble with more than half of its 800,000 population driven from their homes by an Indonesian military- backed campaign of terror that followed East Timor's overwhelming vote for independence in the Aug. 30 self-rule ballot.

Austrade said in a statement that the conference would ensure Australian companies were aware of the scale of the reconstruction required and how they could participate either through multilateral organizations or AusAID.