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.

Timorese Cattle - a domestic product for an international market.

Peace Dividend Trust's (PDT) Micro Matchmaking (M3) rural business development and facilitation team has been working on facilitating the sale of Timorese cattle to Indonesian buyers for nearly two years.  This is a business activity which has a long history over the past decades as Indonesian appetites for "beef on the hoof" have expanded with its population growth.  However recent events have broken down communication links both inside and outside the country.  PDT is working hard to restore these links and promote business across the rural districts of Timor-Leste.  An increase in business correlates to job creation and wealth generation.

Since 2008 PDT has been assisting the owner of Suai based RAFLIMA (Tafara) Cattle, Mr. Rosito Manek, to source cattle for an Atambua (West Timor, Indonesia) based buyer  (Alowisius Lay, owner of UD Pratama in Atambua).  PDT has also been assisting in sourcing cattle from Mr. Casmiro Fernando, a Bobonaro supplier.  To view RAFLIMA's BuildingMarkets.org profile click here.

PDT Cova Lima has facilitated the sale of 680 head of cattle from local ranchers to Mr. Manek with an estimated value of $185,150. Mr. Manek then exports the cattle to UD Pratama in Indonesia. This month (November 2009), Mr. Manek has 300 more cows available to sell to Atambua, but is awaiting a new license to export from the government of Timor-Leste.

Meanwhile PDT Bobonaro has facilitated the sale of 350 head of cattle from local ranchers to Mr. Fernando with an estimated value of $70,955. Mr. Fernando then exports the cattle to UD Pratama in Atambua.  See below for Bobonaro cattle ready for sale.

Mr. Manek and Mr. Fernando were already exporting cows to Atambua but wanted to export on a larger scale. PDT M3 teams in Covalima and Bobonaro assisted the two middlemen in locating and purchasing cattle across their respective districts, resulting in a marked increase in sales and a cash injection into rural Timor-Leste.

RAFLIMA has a website as well - 

For more information contact Ilidio da Costa Ximenes via iximenes[at]pdtglobal.org or timor-leste[at]pdtglobal.org

PDT Micro Matching activities are funded by AusAID and Eni.

Bobonaro Online – www.buildingmarkets.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Bobonaro District Business Community is Now Online – www.buildingmarkets.org

Dili, Timor-Leste, 07 October 2008 – Today marks the launch of the online profiles of the Bobonaro business community. Buyers, both domestic and international, can now access complete information about the full range of suppliers in Bobonaro District on the border with Indonesia. Bobonaro is a major agricultural centre in Timor-Leste and the primary land entry point for goods and people moving between Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

As such is a strategically important District.

Peace Dividend has completed business verification for this District. It is a very busy district and has 85 business profiles now online. Click here to view them all.

Pictured here is PDT business verification assistant Lili Nunes with Maliana Alfayati, in Maliana Town. Goods and services provided include tailoring and cloths for men, women and children.


The SVD Mission Workshop makes home and office furniture, school benches, beds, windows, doors and frames, shrines, coffins and buffets. Welding metal beds, windows and doors security, house frames, and fences. It is an important source of training for youth in Bobonaro District.


There is also the a photo printing outfit , a Poussada, and even a business offering offering IT assistance and training services.

About Peace Dividend Trust Timor-LestePeace Dividend Trust is an international NGO, headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. The Timor-Leste project is funded by AusAID. PDT is a not-for-profit entity. All of its services are provided to the community free of charge.

For more information, please contact:Peace Dividend Trust Estrada de Balide, Dili, East TimorPhone: +670.332.2823 Email: timor-leste@peacedividendtrust.org

Micromatchmaking in Bobonaro and Covalima Districts

On July 22nd, a Micro Matchmaking team consisting of Domingos Savio, Brigida Soares and Ilidio X da Costa met with Mr. Fernando Mendez, the UNMIT Public Information Officer for Bobonaro. A valuable client, Mr. Mendez regularly contacts Micro Matchmaking staff for assistance in finding goods for personal use and has also informed the UNMIT staff about PDT’s Micro Matchmaking services. At this meeting, Mr. Mendez provided both feedback on the Micro Matchmaking services and updated information on the UNMIT and UNPOL staff in the district. In Bobonaro, Ilidio X da Costa also interviewed Mrs. Jacinta Pereira, a business owner in the Maliana market. Content with the work of the Micro Matchmaking staff, Mrs. Pereira explained that she now supplies Mr. Mendez with fruits, vegetables and local eggs because of a relationship started by the Micro Matchmaking service.
In an effort to further support local business owners, the Micro Matchmaking team interviewed Mr. Marcelino Pinto, a supplier of rattan furniture in Ogues, a suco of Covalima. Mr. Pinto said that, through Micro Matchmaking staff in the districts and in Dili, he has received requests for rattan furniture from OXFAM, UNPOL and a Brazilian teacher. Micro Matchmaking staff also delivered to Mr. Pinto a request quote for rattan furniture from Hotel Esplanada, based in Dili. Given the increase in requests for his products stimulated by the Micro Matchmaking services, Mr. Pinto has decided to purchase a mobile phone to facilitate business transactions.
On July 24th, a Micro Matchmaking team consisting of Maria Barros, Brigida Soares and Ilidio X da Costa met with Mr. Rastatuto Mendonza Padilla, the UNPOL Operation Officer for Covalima. Mr. Padilla expressed his satisfaction with the assistance provided by Micro Matchmaking staff in finding both a house that UNPOL staff now rent and also a local supplier of fresh fish.