Acting Minister of Petroleum and Minerals Agio Pereira has opened the first stretch of motorway in Timor-Leste, Lusa reports.

The Portuguese news agency says China Overseas Engineering Group Co. Ltd and China Railway First Group Co. Ltd built the first 30.4 km of the 155 km coastal motorway which will connect the southwestern town of Suai to the rest of the country.

The report says the government has plans for a base for the oil industry in Suai.

“The motorway is important, not only for supporting the Timor-Leste oil industry, but also for developing other industries such as agriculture, fishing and mining, and for easing the flow of people and goods,” Lusa quotes Mr Pereira as saying.