SYDNEY (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Myanmar
considers a global initiative to increase transparency in the oil, gas
and mining sector to be an international best practice that will help
the resource-rich country to engage with the international community,
the country’s minister of finance and revenue told a conference in
Sydney.
Since 2002, the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) has helped activists, investors and the media to hold companies and governments to account by voluntarily reporting how much is paid for extracting natural resources.
Having recently emerged from nearly half a century of military misrule - during which corrupt leaders and cronies tapped the resource-rich country in a way described by one watchdog as “extremely opaque” - Myanmar aims to join the EITI.
“EITI will assist us to get in line with international practice for our country. We have been away from the international community... but we have a chance to be engaged, to reenter the international community. We want to go ahead with international best practices, so we acknowledge that EITI is one of the supportive arms for our reforms,” Minister of Finance and Revenue Win Shein told the EITI Global Conference in Sydney on Thursday.
Myanmar is rich in precious gems, natural gas and timber, as well as hydroelectric power - resources that enriched the military elite while the majority of Burmese lived in dire poverty.
A few months after taking power in March 2011, reformist President Thein Sein vowed to join the EITI, and late last year, the government set up a high-level committee to recommend reforms to its natural resource sector - a major step towards adopting global standards on governance of its extractive industries.
According to biographical notes provided by the EITI, Win Shein is secretary of the Myanmar Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (MEITI) Leading Authority and is overseeing the process for Myanmar to become an EITI member.
“EITI implementation alone cannot resolve all the issues in the natural resources sector in Myanmar, but it can make some important contributions,” he said. “EITI compliments and strengthens important fiscal reforms and management initiatives in Myanmar.”
In a nod to political reforms made by Thein Sein, the United States and European Union have lifted longstanding economic sanctions on Myanmar and eased most import bans.
Revenues from oil and gas represent the largest source of the country’s foreign income, and the International Monetary Fund estimates that gas revenues will increase by 85 percent over the next three years.
source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
http://www.trust.org/item/20130524065527-y91h6/?source=hpeditorial
Since 2002, the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) has helped activists, investors and the media to hold companies and governments to account by voluntarily reporting how much is paid for extracting natural resources.
Having recently emerged from nearly half a century of military misrule - during which corrupt leaders and cronies tapped the resource-rich country in a way described by one watchdog as “extremely opaque” - Myanmar aims to join the EITI.
“EITI will assist us to get in line with international practice for our country. We have been away from the international community... but we have a chance to be engaged, to reenter the international community. We want to go ahead with international best practices, so we acknowledge that EITI is one of the supportive arms for our reforms,” Minister of Finance and Revenue Win Shein told the EITI Global Conference in Sydney on Thursday.
Myanmar is rich in precious gems, natural gas and timber, as well as hydroelectric power - resources that enriched the military elite while the majority of Burmese lived in dire poverty.
A few months after taking power in March 2011, reformist President Thein Sein vowed to join the EITI, and late last year, the government set up a high-level committee to recommend reforms to its natural resource sector - a major step towards adopting global standards on governance of its extractive industries.
According to biographical notes provided by the EITI, Win Shein is secretary of the Myanmar Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (MEITI) Leading Authority and is overseeing the process for Myanmar to become an EITI member.
“EITI implementation alone cannot resolve all the issues in the natural resources sector in Myanmar, but it can make some important contributions,” he said. “EITI compliments and strengthens important fiscal reforms and management initiatives in Myanmar.”
In a nod to political reforms made by Thein Sein, the United States and European Union have lifted longstanding economic sanctions on Myanmar and eased most import bans.
Revenues from oil and gas represent the largest source of the country’s foreign income, and the International Monetary Fund estimates that gas revenues will increase by 85 percent over the next three years.
source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
http://www.trust.org/item/20130524065527-y91h6/?source=hpeditorial
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