Entrepreneurial Spirit and Success in Bobonaro District

Josefina Vicente of Maliana, Bobonaro could be called the quintessential business woman. With an entrepreneurial spirit and $300 in capital, she opened up a small business in 2001, just two years after Timor-Leste voted out their Indonesian occupiers, selling gasoline, cigarettes and clothing racks to the local community. With profits on the rise, she made an investment on a dump truck which entered her company into the construction sector. As her business grew, it began to incorporate water supply and drainage systems into its repertoire of offered services, thus morphing into the company now know as JEDOVIONA. Perhaps the pinnacle of her construction enterprises' success was the win of a Government issued tender valued at $2,660,000 in 2007. 

The PDM-TL team now finds Ms. Vicente in Maliana running both JEDOVIONA and Tansos Hotel, a 12 room complex that she created with profits from her 2007 success. In an interview with Matchmaking Associates Ilidio Ximenes and Brigida Soares, Ms. Vicente spoke very highly of the services offered to her two companies by Peace Dividend Trust and expressed her interest in collaborating with PDT in the future. The PDT team in Bobonaro, when approached by international travelers, includes Tansos Hotel on the list of comfortable accommodations in the Maliana area, generating a high level of business for Ms. Vicente. The hotel staffs 8 employees, four men and four women.

Peace Dividend Trust is currently being funded by AusAid, the Canadian Embassy in Indonesia, the Arsenault Family Foundation, and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Cattle Exportation: Linking East Timor to West

Bobonaro cattle ready for exportation.

Peace Dividend Trust Matchmaking (MM) assistants in the district of Bobonaro continue to link Timor-Leste's cattle traders to buyers in West Timor. Recently, the team has connected Mr. Justino Luis, a local Maliana supplier of cattle meat to local restaurants and consumers, to Mr. Ali Fahmi in Atambua, Indonesia. Since the beginning of December, this relationship established by the MM team has already yielded the sale of 52 head of cattle, bringing home $22,115 for this Bobonaro based supplier.

Mr. Fahmi continues to seek assistance from the matchmaking staff who are now looking to other districts to fill larger orders. Already, the team has found in the district of Manatuto 5,000 head of cattle, which through the assistance of MM staff in both districts, will be transported to Bobonaro and then on to Indonesia. Reviving these ties between East and West Timor is one vital step in generating economic activity in Timor-Leste.

If you have any questions about the Matchmaking process please contact Matchmaking Associates Ilidio Ximenes or Brigida Soares at Timor-Leste@pdtglobal.org.

PDT at the time of this transaction was being funded by AusAID and Eni.

Viqueque Farmers Secure $1,028 in Exchange for Peanuts

 A Raitahu farmer tying off a bag of peanuts before it is transferred to Mr.Mario da Costa.

Back in touch with Mr. Mario da Costa, a Seed Production Officer from the Seeds of Life program, the Viqueque Matchmaking team facilitated a substantial transaction of peanuts in the rural village of Raitahu, Viqueque.

 

Farmers sorting through a mound of peanuts.

One of the biggest challenges of linking buyers to suppliers in this region is the lack of communication options available; not one of the farmers involved in the transaction owned a telephone. In spite of this, the team was able to locate enough farmers to provide Mr. Mario da Costa with 1,371kgs of peanuts, resulting in a total of $1,028 dollars that directly entered Viqueque's local economy.

Raitahu farmers standing in front of bagged peanuts.

If you have any questions about the matchmaking process or would like assistance in finding local goods and services, please don't hesitate to contact PDM-TL's Matchmaking Associates Ilidio Ximenes or Brigida Soares at Timor-Leste@pdtglobal.org.

PDT's Matchmaking program at the time of this transaction was being funded by AusAid and Eni.

A $1,460 Deal for Manatuto Soybean Farmer

With the aid of PDT’s district Matchmaking (MM) team, local Manatuto farmer Abilio Joao Martins was able to find a buyer for 2,921kg of soybeans worth $1,460.50.

Gilberto Amaral, PDT’s Viqueque District Representative, was contacted by a previous client, Mr. Venancio Siqueira Ximenes, who had purchased a large sum of soybeans in Viqueque. Mr. Ximenes, satisfied with his first purchase, sought an additional quantity of soybeans to sell to wholesalers in Dili. Mr. Amaral in turn contacted Matchmaking staff in the district of Manatuto who were able to quickly link Mr. Ximenes with Mr. Martins, despite the fact they had never met face to face before.

Manatuto MM team members Benigno Humberto da Cruz (center) and Fransisco Remedios Quintao (right) with Mr. Abilio Joao Martins.

After the transaction, Mr. Martins expressed his satisfaction with PDT’s Matchmaking system in the districts, citing that its services motivate him to continue to work in the agricultural arena. This particular sale of soybeans has substantially increased both Mr. Martin’s income and standard of living. As a result, his children now have four bicycles to go back and forth from school each day. Currently, PDT’s Matchmaking teams operate in 9 out of the 13 districts of Timor-Leste. For more information about the Matchmaking program, please contact Ilidio Ximenes +670.723.3335 or Brigida Soares +670.729.8264. For addition inquires about PDT's operations in  Timor-Leste, please email timor-leste@pdtglobal.org.

PDT’s Matchmaking activities are funded by AusAid.