Executive Director of the Norway-based Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), Mark Robinson has lauded Guyana’s efforts thus far at deepening governance in the mining and oil and gas industries. However, he said that much work has to be done on tax transparency and the release of more details on contracts.
The official made this comment, among others, following his two-day visit to Guyana last week.
Robinson said that Guyana has made important strides in establishing some of the foundations for successful EITI implementation.
He said too, “During my visit, I received confirmation of the Government’s commitment to transparency in the extractives sector, to publishing data on production and exports and to putting information on contracts and commodity sales in the public domain.”
Furthermore, the EITI Head noted that Guyana’s multi-stakeholder group functions well in representing the interests of government, industry and civil society while adding that the government has committed to financing the operations of the EITI national secretariat.
Reference was also made to the country’s fairly low scores as shown in the Validation assessment following the country’s third report which covers revenues received from sectors in 2019. The EITI Board which manages 55 member countries said, the overall score of 52 points for Guyana reflects an average of three component scores in the areas of: Outcomes and Impact, Transparency and Stakeholder engagement.
In spite of that performance, Robinson said the information in the 2019 report is critical as it can be used to inform public debate and media coverage.
Commenting on future opportunities to deepen extractives governance, Robinson said this is the time for Guyana to build on the progress achieved in EITI implementation to date, by strengthening tax transparency, deepening information on revenues, creating a public register of licenses, releasing more details of contracts, and setting up a beneficial ownership register.
He affirmed the commitment of the International Secretariat to offer technical support and peer learning from countries with similar laws and institutions.
“We look forward to walking this path with Guyana’s government, EITI secretariat and multi-stakeholder group. Transparency is essential to bring benefit to citizens from Guyana’s natural resources,” he concluded.
