Reports should spark debates, official says

THE PNG Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PNGEITI) reports are meaningless if they do not lead to critical policy debates for a robust mining and petroleum sector in PNG, an official says.
Head of PNGEITI National Secretariat Lucas Alkan told leaders at the 36th Australia–Papua New Guinea Business Forum yesterday that EITI’s work in PNG was helping to shape public policy discussions through EITI report recommendations, and open discussions within the PNGEITI Multi Stakeholder Group.
PNG, to date, has published a total of seven EITI country reports since the Government signed up to join more than 50 other mineral resource rich countries in 2014 to implement the EITI global best practice standard.
To promote transparent and accountable conduct of business in the mining and petroleum industry the core function of EITI implementation is the publication of annual EITI country reports consistent with the requirements of the EITI global standard.
Alkan said those reports needed to form part of policy discourse in mining and petroleum sectors of the economy as opposed to collecting dust on the shelves.
“Producing EITI reports are meaningless if these reports do not give rise to critical policy and legislative reforms for better management of the sector,” he said.
Alkan said important progress had been made since PNG’s first EITI report in 2015, providing greater transparency over revenue received by the government from the country’s mining and oil and gas industry.