Timor Leste Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Tibar Bay Port on the outskirts of Dili, the biggest infrastructure project in the history of his country, Lusa reports.

The Portuguese news agency says state-owned China Harbour Engineering Co. Ltd is building the port.

It quotes Mr Taur as stressing the importance of maritime transport to the development of Timor Leste.

The report says the US$278.3 million Tibar Bay Port project is an undertaking by a public-private partnership that brings together the Timor Leste government, Bolloré Ports of France and the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank.

When the port opens in 2020 it will have the capacity to handle 226,000 freight containers a year to begin with, Lusa says.