Location: the Norwegian International Press Centre (NIPS), Haakon VII gate 10, Oslo. Date and time: Thursday, 12 October 2006 at 13.00.

Approximately 450 representatives from the world’s resource-rich countries will meet in Oslo for the third plenary conference of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) from 16 to 17 October 2006. Norway will be represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Petroleum and Energy Odd Roger Enoksen and Minister of International Development Erik Solheim.

The goal of the EITI is to ensure that the extraction of natural resources benefits the country as a whole and all its citizens. It aims to do so by setting common standards for the publication and verification of company payments and for government revenues from oil, gas and mining. This will mean that information on who pays what, where and to who is made publicly available.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Petroleum and Energy will speak on the aims of the EITI Conference in Oslo, and about Norway’s role in the EITI.

The other speakers at the conference include the President of Nigeria, HE Olusegun Obasanjo, about 20 government ministers from various countries, George Soros (Open Society Institute), Peter Eigen (Transparency International), top executives from Hydro, Statoil and other global oil, gas and mining companies, and various heads of NGOs and international organisations like the World Bank, the IMF and the IFC.

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More about the conference.