The PNG Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) efforts in reporting revenue generated from the extractive industry will be validated by the international EITI Board based in Norway.
PNG EITI Head of Secretariat, Lucas Alkan, in announcing this in a statement, said they are currently compiling reports for 2015 and 2016.
This follows the endorsement of recommendations from the 2013 report by the National Executive Council (NEC) and the recent publishing of the 2014 Report.
Alkan said validation is an important feature of the EITI implementation.
“As Papua New Guinea will now be validated by the International EITI board based in Oslo, Norway, next year, we are now working on the compilation of two reports based on the financial years 2015 and 2016, in the remainder of this year,” he said.
“Validation is an essential feature of EITI implementation. It provides stakeholders with an impartial assessment of whether EITI implementation in a country is consistent with the provisions of the EITI Standard.
“So PNG’s candidate status will be validated early next year to determine whether we have met or are making meaningful progress in meeting the global best practice to be a fully pledged member country.
“I am positive that we will get these reports completed on time for validation as the Multi Stakeholder Group (MSG) is right behind the PNGEITI National Secretariat every step of the way,” Alkan said.
He added, reasonable progress has been made in EITI reporting in the country, with collaboration happening between Government, Industry and the Civil Society in publishing the annual EITI reports, which are consistent with global standards.