East Timor, new member at WB and IMF

East Timor, new member at WB and IMF

WASHINGTON: The Democratic Republic of East Timor Tuesday became the 184th member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank at a ceremony in Washington.

The rapid approval of East Timor's entry to the international institutions was "thanks to the assistance that we have been receiving from IMF and World Bank since 1999 September until independence day," said Mari Alkatiri, East Timor's Prime Minister.

Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and annexed it the following year in defiance of most of the world.

Under the protection of UN peacekeepers, a large part of the island's population voted for independence from Indonesia in August 1999, unleashing a pro-Indonesian militia backlash.

The United Nations administered the territory of only 750,000 inhabitants for 32 months until its independence May 19. The World Bank is already a trustee of the Trust Fund for East Timor, which has channeled almost 30 percent of all development aid coming into the country over the past two years. -- AFP