EITI to be "trialed" in Aus; PNG next

[Palm]

Very interesting article regarding the EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative). Australia last fall decided to "trial" the program, which is an initiative to require both companies and governments to account for and report all payments in an attempt to cut down on corruption. Countries like PNG are being pushed to put it in place as a requirement to receive development funds from organizations like the World Bank and foreign governments. PNG several years ago stated that it wanted to become compliant at some point, but for obvious reasons it's been put off. They may not have a choice before long, and if O'Neill is what he says he is, you'd expect he would want to have it enacted. These reports annually would be filed by each side (company and government) and an accounting would take place to be sure each reported the same amounts and purposes. Article mentions that PNG is good at some things, but lacking in some big areas (like the A$1.6 billion loan from IPIC that Artie was involved with, and people wondered where it went). Too long to copy, but worth the read:
http://devpolicy.org/time-to-step-up-on-...nsparency/