A new survey of property leasing arrangements will help Timor-Leste’s government draft its property laws. A specially organized survey team spent 10 days in late August collecting detailed information from randomly selected business owners on their property leasing agreements in Dili and around the country. The resulting data will provide sound, scientific information about the domestic and international business community for the drafting of the State Property Administration Law.

Associates in Rural Development (ARD) worked with the National University of Timor-Leste (UNTL) to devise the survey and recruit the survey team, which included faculty members and university students working on their senior theses. Students will be able to use their survey experience and survey data in their senior theses. UNTL faculty benefit from the training and survey implementation experience, enhancing their research and teaching skills.

The primary intended beneficiaries, however, are business owners. The survey data will help the government establish a secure leasing system based on a sound land tenure law. Dr. Jon Unruh, senior research coordinator for the project, explained, “With tenure security fundamental to business investment, the law makers need to know the current problems and issues…given Timor-Leste's difficult history involving multiple titling and informal tenure systems.” The State Property Administration Law deals with leasing systems and investment security, and thus will have a significant influence on domestic and foreign investment in Timor-Leste.

Under the Timor-Leste Land Policy Rights and Legislative Drafting Project, ARD will conduct a variety of activities over a 14-month period to support the government of Timor-Leste in policy development and preparation of legislative bills and ministerial decrees related to land matters. These activities are based on the legislative agenda developed with the Ministry of Justice.

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