World Bank2025-09-192025-09-192025-09-19https://hdl.handle.net/10986/43748Timor-Leste is at a defining moment - one that brings both urgent challenges and real opportunities to build a more resilient and prosperous future. With oil production halted, the country now relies on withdrawals from its Petroleum Fund, which can be depleted by 2038. This raises a pressing question: how can Timor-Leste build a sustainable future and preserve its fiscal buffers? The stakes are high, but so is the potential, with several pathways already emerging. Membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) promises deeper regional integration, long-delayed infrastructure projects are starting to bear fruit, and the tourism sector is rebounding. To seize this moment, Timor-Leste needs to mobilize its financial assets to grow its private sector, but for this to happen it needs to tackle the lack of land tenure security which is a barrier to investment across the board. Get this right, and Timor-Leste can become a model for sustainable growth in Southeast Asia.en-USCC BY-NC 3.0 IGOECONOMIC GROWTHPRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTLAND ADMINISTRATIONPUBLIC INVESTMENTReportWorld Bank