Myanmar now has three years to fulfil the EITI’s remaining requirements in order to achieve "compliance" status
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Myanmar has taken its first step towards becoming a member of a global initiative aimed at bringing greater transparency and accountability to the oil, gas and mining sector.
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) said that Myanmar had been accepted as a 'candidate country' at an EITI board meeting and will have three years to fulfil several requirements relating to revenue transparency.
"We deeply appreciate the decision of the EITI Board, which recognizes our determination to transform Myanmar to democratic and peaceful country," Zaw Oo, the national coordinator of Myanmar EITI, said in statement.
"EITI gives us a useful tool to design our escape from the resource curse; and it is an important catalyst for ongoing reforms," Oo added.
The EITI, first announced in 2002 by former British prime minister Tony Blair, requires member countries to compel any extractive company operating within their borders to publish the payments it has made to the government.
It also requires the government to publish the revenue it has received from the company. The two sets of accounts are independently verified and published as a publicly available EITI report.
In addition to its revenue transparency requirements, the EITI announced last year that member countries would be required to publish more data about their extractive industry including output figures, the registration of licences and permits and the transfer of extractive revenue from federal to local government.
Myanmar has also agreed to disclose the beneficial or true owners of the oil, gas and mining companies that operate within its borders, a reform that is “encouraged” in the new standard but is not a requirement.
After almost half a century in power, Myanmar's military junta stepped aside in 2011 following elections in November 2010. The quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein, himself a former junta member, has surprised the world by ushering in economic and political reforms.
"Myanmar’s admission to the EITI comes at a critical time as the country is now opening up its vast natural resources for foreign investment," EITI Chair Clare Short said in a statement.
She added that the government should be encouraged to "make use of the EITI as a tool to inspire wider reforms and to enshrine transparency in government institutions".
Forty-five countries are either in the process of implementing the EITI standard or have achieved EITI compliance.
At the EITI board meeting in Mexico City, in addition to Myanmar's admittance as an EITI candidate, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea were accepted as full EITI members.
The German government also announced on Wednesday that it would start the process of becoming an EITI member.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
