East Timor has reached an agreement with state-owned Indonesian company PT Wijaya Karya for construction of the new international airport in Oecusse Ambeno, a project with an estimated cost of US$79 million, reports Portuguese news agency Lusa.

Mari Alkaitiri, who chairs the Authority for the Special Administrative Region of Oecusse, told Lusa that the project includes the construction of a 2.5-kilometres airport runway.

Mr Alkaitiri said the airport runway in Oecusse Ambeno would be longer than the current one at the airport in Dili, the country’s capital city. “It will be an international airport. For now we will have the runway, the control tower and the surrounding perimeter. The terminal design is still being revised,” he added.

The region of Oecusse Ambeno is a special economic area earmarked by the Government of East Timor to spearhead local infrastructure development and to attract foreign investment.

The contract with the Indonesian company should be signed soon.

“The negotiations are concluded and we hope they [Wijaya Karya] will arrive in March to start preparatory work. We want the airport to be ready by October,” Mr Alkaitiri was quoted saying.