According to available data from Water Aid, more than one in four people in Timor-Leste do not have access to clean water.

The promise from the European Union came after Fiedrich met with Timor-Leste’s Vice Prime Minister Mariano Asanami Sabino in a closed-door meeting at Government House in Dili.

" We mainly talked about clean water and how the European Union will be helping efforts to give people clean water,” Ambassador Fiedrich told reporters.

  “Water is one daily essential aspect to human being’s life.”

The European Union , which along with the Asian Development Bank and US government support several major water projects in Timor-Leste, said it would focus efforts on improving access to clean water in Dili, but gave no details.

" I also recognise that the availability of the Clean Water in Dili still very lacking,” said Fiedrich.

In Dili, only about 40 percent of the 317,000 residents have access to piped water, according to data from the World Bank.

In late May last year, the World Bank approved credit for US$121 million to finance the Timor-Leste Dili Water Supply Project.

At the time, the World Bank said in a statement: “The Timor-Leste Dili Water Supply Project will finance the development, upgrading and expansion of the existing water supply system and provide drinking water to 82,380 people in East Dili through 12,482 piped and metered connections.”