EITI Updates
On 3 June 2008, the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan announced the release of the Government's eighth EITI report (Jan-Dec 2007). The release is accompanied by the Aggregator's opinion based on individual submissions of extractive industry companies participating in the EITI process in Azerbaijan. The press release and reports are available here.
The Africa Progress Panel, an independent mechanism that monitors implementation of commitments and report on progress in Africa, recently launched its 2008 report. In the report, the panelists (including Kofi Annan, Tony Blair, Bob Geldof and Muhammad Yunus) conclude that together with the APRM, the EITI has been "successful, even groundbreaking", in its efforts to improve governance.
The Energy Ministers of G8 plus China, India and Korea met in in Aomori, Japan on 8 June 2008. They welcomed implentation of EITI in their Joint Statement.
We welcome the efforts of countries exporting oil and gas as well as minerals that are implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) on a voluntary basis to strengthen governance by improving transparency and accountability in the extractives sector.
The G8 Finance Ministers reaffirmed the G8's backing of the EITI, and called for broader implementation when they met 14 June in Osaka, Japan. In the Statement from their meeting, they said:
We affirm the importance of good financial governance, including long-term fiscal discipline for resource rich countries, and of broader implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
From the EITI Newsletter Spring 2008
By T. Negbalee Warner, Head of LEITI Secretariat
On 28 May 2008, members of the Commission for International Cooperation of the Spanish parliament met with EITI Chairman Peter Eigen and Sarah Wykes and Marie-Ange Kalenga of PWYP. The parlamentarians agreed to deepen the debate on future Spanish engagement with the EITI and has already asked the Spanish government to explore future steps.
At the Iraq Compact Review Conference 29 May 2008, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said: "The Government has also committed to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)." Jonas Moberg, Head of the EITI International Secretariat, welcomed Iraq's commitment to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and made the following statement:
Welcome to the spring edition of the quarterly EITI Newsletter. We hope that this quarterly EITI newsletter will be a useful resource for readers that wish to follow recent developments in the EITI community. 3000 users have signed up to receive regular email updates - illustrating both the growing interest in EITI and the growing expectations.
PRESS RELEASE
HOUSTON AND OSLO, 12 MAY 2008. Monday Peter Eigen, Chair of the EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) and founder of Transparency International, launched a new guide for how companies can play a integral role in helping create transparency in the extractive sector. Together with Rich Kruger, President of ExxonMobil Production Company, he launched the new "EITI Business Guide". It outlines how business can support the implementation of the EITI, the international initiative to improve transparency in the management of oil, gas and mining resources.
7 May 2008 the EITI Board welcomed Côte d'Ivoire as an EITI Candidate Country and is now among the 23 countries in Africa, Asia, Middle East and Latin America that are underway in implementing this standard for transparency in the extractive industries. It now has two years to become compliant with the EITI Criteria and undergo validation.