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EITI in focus at G8 Summit 2013

EITI in focus at G8 Summit 2013

Photo with courtesy of the G8 UK Presidency. From the left: President Mahama from Ghana, President Sall from Senegal, President Conde from Guinea, President Kikwete from Tanzania, and Prime Minister Cameron from the UK.

The G8 Summit at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland on Monday 17 June will focus on tax, transparency and trade. The EITI will be a central element to these discussions.

During the EITI Global Conference in Sydney, British PM David Cameron stated he would use his G8 Presidency to persuade the other G8 countries to follow suit and implement the EITI Standard.

"I am determined to use our G8 leadership to put a new and practical emphasis on transparency and accountability, particularly in our partnerships with less developed and emerging countries.”

"This is good for government, good for business and good for citizens,” PM Cameron concluded.

Trade, transparency and taxation

Head of the EITI International Secretariat, Jonas Moberg, joined the G8 leaders, plus Presidents from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mexico, and Tanzania at the G8’s Trade, Transparency, and Taxation conference in London 15 June.

Moberg spoke at a special session on the Extractive Industries about the need both to build on the global efforts for more transparency and accountability but also the need to make the discussion more meaningful and relevant.

“Big strides have been made in the global movement towards transparency in the management of the extractive industry. With France, UK and US now committed to join the 39 EITI implementing countries, and Canada, the US and the EU having announced mandatory disclosing requirements, citizens will soon be armed with enough information to hold their governments properly to account.“

“We still have to do more to make sure that the right questions are asked to ensure better management and more benefits for the citizens,” Moberg added.

During the meeting on Saturday 15 June, PM Cameron stated that he would create a new agenda for trade, transparency and tax.

"It is a simple fact that countries beset by corruption and weak governance are most likely to succumb to conflict. And remember this: no country in conflict has ever met a single one of the Millennium Development Goals."

"A big part of tackling the causes of poverty is ensuring that developing countries get the revenues and the benefits of growth that are rightfully theirs. And three vital things are needed to make that happen. Fairer taxes, greater transparency and more trade," PM Cameron said.

Country partnerships

The G8 have also announced important ‘fast-track’ partnerships to support extractive industries governance with Burkina Faso, Colombia, Ghana, Guinea, Mongolia, Myanmar, Peru and Tanzania.  EITI will be a central element of many of these fast track partnerships. 

The President from Somalia  Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was also present at the meeting Saturday, and confirmed his country is working towards preparations to submit an EITI application.

The EITI is the global Standard that promotes revenue transparency and accountability in the extractive sector. Each implementing country creates its own EITI process adapted to the specific needs of the country. It is implemented by 39 resource rich countries.