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