EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE (EITI)
London Conference, 17 June 2003
YOUR EXCELLENCY THE PRIME MINISTER EXCELLENCIES THE
MINISTERS RESPECTABLE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE VARIOUS
COUNTRIES AND MEMBERS OF NGOs.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
First of all, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea Government Delegation
would like to thank Prime Minister Tony Blair for organising this encounter
on transparency in extractive industries and for the invitation extended to
the representation of the Government of Equatorial Guinea, and would like
to congratulate the Prime Minister´s initiative to deal with such an issue
which we believe to be universal and which constitutes the basis of a
sustainable economic development.
After an exhaustive analysis of the principles and actions of this initiative,
we observed that the principles of such an initiative fit perfectly and is in
conjunction with our Government Policy.
Recognising that natural resources constitute the basis of a sustainable
economic growth and following the discovery of major oil deposits in 1995,
in 1997 the Government organised a public debate in the form of a
National Economic Conference to determine with all transparency the
rational utilisation of revenues from the oil; the following parties participated
in the debate: the whole Government, Opposition Political Parties, NGOs,
Civil Society, Private Sector, international financial institutions (i.e. the
World Bank, IMF and the Africa Bank of Development) and the United
Nations.
Recognising the impact of petroleum benefits in the national economy, the
Government practices a moderate policy regarding salary increases and a
transparent and rational management of public resources in function of the
national economic capacity in the production of basic goods, allocating a
major portion of these revenues to public investment, fundamentally in the
sectors of infrastructure, health, education, agriculture and others.
The Government of Equatorial Guinea, in consideration of the above,
maintains that to achieve a transparent management of public resources it
is indispensable to implement fiscal and other mechanisms for institutional
control within the country (interpellations of Government officials over the
management of their departments, audit of public accounts, control of the
various revenue streams and Government campaign against corruption.).
In conclusion, we are in agreement to explore all avenues that lead
towards the achievement of the objectives of the mandate and to support
specific actions so long as particularities of each country are taken into
consideration.
As to the Management of information related to oil exploration, production,
exports and consequently the revenues, our Government uses as a
mechanism the General State Budget, which for its approval, it is firstly
submitted to the IMF for consultation, then to a debate in the Counsel of
Ministers and it is finally submitted to the National Parliament for a public
debate then it is sanctioned as Law.
The second mechanism, we believe, is through the Ministry of Planning
and Economic Development, which is responsible for elaborating and
publishing periodically reports related to macroeconomic indicators of the
country.
The other mechanism is the Regional Monetary Committee which carries
out similar functions of control but at regional level.
In conclusion, there are the avenues that our Government believes we can
transmit information related to natural extractive resources in a transparent
manner while respecting contractual clauses.
Finally, the Government of Equatorial Guinea is open to any avenues
which is generally accepted and that lead to a sustainable development.
Fuente: Ministerio Desarrollo Internac. R.U.
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