Afghanistan close to joining EITI

KABUL (PAN): Afghanistan will be accepted as a member of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) within a year, an official said on Sunday.

During a press conference, Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal told reporters that the Ministry of Mines had been making efforts to obtain membership of the EITI and that the country would be accepted in 14 months.

The EITI sets standards for the transparent payments of the extraction of natural resources.

When Afghanistan awards extraction contracts, revenue for the country and awareness of people about projects will be the main conditions, Zakhilwal said. If the contract does not benefit Afghan people, the government has the right to terminate it. 

The office of Afghanistan Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (AEITI) will be opened in the finance ministry and will be led by the ministers of finance and mines, he said.

Minister of mines, Wahidullah Shahrani, said that to guarantee the transparency of the projects, the contracts will be typed and signed in Dari and Pashto and published on the website of the Ministry of Mines.

Over the last nine months, a banking system had been set up at the Ministry of Mines, which could be assessed by the finance ministry and independent sources, he said.

EITI head, Jonas Moberg, said 28 countries have membership to the EITI and five others, including Afghanistan, are candidates. Afghanistan is very close to receiving membership which should be soon, he added.

EITI operates in countries which are rich in natural resources and where the nation is given the right to be involved in the contracts, he said.

After the contracts have been signed, EITI will help negotiate with the companies where there might be issues of non-payment of tax and if the problems are not solved it will be released in media, he said.

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