October 31, 2022
PAPUA NEW GUINEA ACHIEVES MODERATE RATING IN ITS SECOND EITI VALIDATION (COUNTRY ASSESSMENT ON EITI IMPLEMENTATION)
Following Papua New Guinea first Extractive Industries Transparency initiative (EITI) validation in 2018, the EITI international governing body has issued its second assessment on the country’s progress in implementing the EITI Standard.
The assessment suggests that Papua New Guinea has not made any significant progress from its first validation in 2018 where it achieved ‘meaningful progress’ (satisfactory achievement). The second validation undertaken this year demonstrated that PNG had made ‘moderate progress’ which is basically an average middle score. Though the first validation was based on the 2016 EITI and the second validation was based on the 2019 EITI Standard, the bottom line scoring granted was an average or a median score in the overall EITI global assessment score card.
Released by the EITI Board on 4th October, 2022, the Papua New Guinea EITI Validation report provides a critical and independent opinion and assessment on the role EITI should play in enhancing transparency and good governance in the extractive sector to derive the best outcome for the economy and its citizens from the development of PNG’s rich mineral wealth.
PNGEITI Head of National Secretariat Mr. Lucas Alkan welcomed the EITI Board’s candid assessment and decision on PNG’s effort to implement the EITI, describing it as fair assessment, taking into account the efforts put in by the PNGEITI Multi-Stakeholder Group over the years since 2013 when the Government signed up to implement the EITI.
“The implementation of the EITI Standard in Papua New Guinea had its own set of challenges but steady and improved progress had been made to ensure the quality and comprehensiveness of EITI reporting improved over time by addressing the gaps that were identified in the first validation for PNG to meet all the requirements of the EITI Standards with the objective of becoming a compliant country,” Mr. Alkan said.
“We consider the second country assessment as consolidating the corrective actions that have been taken and the work currently in progress. PNG has made significant progress in implementing the EITI relative to other economies around the world that are implementing the same EITI Standard.
“Domestically, credit must go to all stakeholders particularly the tripartite body, the Multi Stakeholder Group (PNGEITI MSG) Chaired by the Treasurer. This ensured that the information required by the EITI International Secretariat and the independent validators for this assessment were transmitted with efficiently.
The information and data supplied were highly verifiable which provided the confidence required for the EITI International Secretariat and its independent validators in conducting and delivering the second EITI Validation assessment,” Mr. Alkan said.
“Papua New Guinea has fully met ten, mostly met twelve and partly met seven requirements, with three requirements assessed as not applicable.
I am very optimistic that PNG will soon become one of the leading EITI implementing countries in the world, attributed to the commitment that have been put into the EITI implementation activities over the years by the PNGEITI Multi Stakeholder Group. This level of commitment had grown from strength to strength, influenced by such reviews and independent country assessments” he said.
The EITI is a global standard for reporting company payments and government receipts as revenues from the extractive sector. These payments and receipts are reconciled by an independent auditor and the information is disclosed through the annual EITI reports for public debates.
PNG operationalized EITI implementation in 2015 and published its first report in 2016. Since then it has so far published seven country reports covering successive financial years. The 2021 and 2020 reports are now being worked on and are expected to be published by December this year.
Download Full Validation Report: PNG Final Validation report 2022
Photo caption: Members of the PNGEITI Multi-Stakeholder Group, during the first quarter meeting this year.
