Iraq regains its place in Transparency International after losing two years

Iraq regains its place in Transparency International after losing two years



2019/10/20 06:33:50
 
Shafaq News / Deputy Prime Minister for Energy and Iraqi Oil Minister, said that the international board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has issued a decision to lift the suspension of Iraq's membership.

TII has suspended Iraq's membership in the initiative since October 2017.

Thamer Ghadhban, who is also chairman of the Board of Trustees of the TII, said the decision to lift the suspension was a result of a series of measures taken by Iraq that have made significant progress in implementing the plan. Initiative standards and better implementation of its requirements.

He appreciated the efforts exerted by the concerned authorities in Iraq, especially the members of the Council and the National Secretariat, and its keenness to return Iraq to the membership of the international initiative and to strengthen its position in the international community.

He stressed the continuation of efforts at high rates to submit and report on the activities with high transparency to the relevant international organizations, including the International Board for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

He pointed out that the government continues to provide support for the application of transparency standards, especially in the oil, gas and minerals sectors and to benefit from them in the implementation of reforms and improve performance, calling on national companies and foreign companies operating in Iraq to abide by the standards and disclose information related to financial transactions.

The International Board praised in its decision the efforts made by Iraq to use the initiative as a global standard in the disclosure of data related to the oil, gas and minerals sector and information that was not available in the past, such as oilfield data, property rights and financial statements of state-owned extractive companies.

The Board acknowledged that the implementation of the initiative in Iraq has achieved a number of reforms and showed a pioneer transparency in the export of crude oil, also acknowledged the efforts made by Iraq to strengthen the participation of the government and extractive companies in the implementation of the initiative.

This decision returns Iraq to the forefront among the member states as the largest country in the volume of revenue reported in the nine reports issued in the years from 2009 to 2017, which is equivalent to a quarter of the total amounts disclosed by the rest of the countries for the same period.

It is noteworthy that the Deputy Prime Minister for Energy and Oil Minister has overseen since assuming the chairmanship of the Board of Trustees of the Transparency Initiative to hold a series of meetings and specialized workshops, in addition to taking a series of measures and decisions aimed at achieving the standards of the International Board and this was achieved within a period not exceeding a year. The decision to restore Iraq to membership contributes to strengthen the status and position of Iraq in the international community.

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