DUSHANBE, March 6, 2013, Asia-Plus — A regional training formally titled “Hydrocarbons and Minerals: from Extraction to Stable Development” is being conducted in the Azeri capital Baku.
The training that kicked off on March 4 and runs through March 10 is being conducted at the Eurasia Extractive Industries Knowledge Hub, Khazar University.
This training for participants from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Ukraine reportedly aims to improve the knowledge about the purpose, governance, reporting and scope of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). It also covers the role of civil society organizations in EITI, negotiation skills and EITI innovations.
“We share technical knowledge with representatives from the countries of the region involved in EITI so that they could use this knowledge for implementation of projects aimed at ensuring transparency of resources that are managed by the government or separate companies,” Ingilab Ahmedov, director of the Eurasia Extractive Industries Knowledge Hub told Asia-Plus in an interview.
He noted that similar training was conducted last year in Dushanbe. “This year, we plan to visit Dushanbe once again to share our information and experience,” Ahmedov noted.
Timurali Afghonov, Head of Budget Department, Ministry of Finance of Tajikistan, stressed that such events were very significant for representatives of Tajikistan.
We will recall that the international EITI Board approved Tajikistan”s application for EITI Candidate status at its meeting in Oslo on February 26 and Tajikistan will now implement the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) standard and this is expected to ensure more transparency of the payments to Tajikistan”s government from its expanding extractives sector. As an EITI Candidate country, Tajikistan has to start disclosing payments from its extractives sector, and meet all the requirements in the EITI standard within 2½ years to become EITI Compliant.
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) increases transparency over payments by companies from the oil and mining industries to governments and to government-linked entities, as well as transparency over revenues by those host country governments. The Chair of the EITI is Clare Short, former UK Secretary of State for International Development.
It was announced by Tony Blair, the then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2002. Ghana, Nigeria and Azerbaijan piloted the EITI approach.
In May 2005 an International Advisory Group (IAG) was established. The Secretariat of the EITI moved to Oslo in Norway in March 2007.
