Charlestrong Café Co. Lda Chairman Charles Shi of Macao says he has invested HK$20 million (about US$2.58 million) in a venture to process organic coffee grown in Timor-Leste, Lusa reports.

The Portuguese news agency quotes Mr Shi as saying his company has imported about 330 tonnes of coffee beans from Timor-Leste this year, and is hoping to import the commodity at the rate of 5,000 tonnes a year.

The report says the beans are processed in Macao and that the end product is sold under the Café Dilly brand.

It quotes Mr Shi as saying Charlestrong wants more space, and is discussing with the government about how to obtain it.

Charlestrong means to open two shops in Macao to sell Café Dilly products, and to get hotels in the city and duty-free shops at the airport to sell them, the report says.

Many mainland Chinese enterprises have approached Charlestrong with a view to distributing Café Dilly products or selling them online, Lusa quotes Mr Shi as saying.