OSCE promotes transparency in Kazakhstan’s oil and gas industry
URALSK, Kazakhstan, 29 June 2011 – Transparency and accountability in the management of oil, gas and other extractive industries revenues in the western Caspian Sea region of Kazakhstan is the topic of a one-day OSCE-supported roundtable discussion organized today in Uralsk.
The event brings together some 50 participants representing local authorities, non-governmental organizations, companies working in the extractive industries and international organizations. Participants will discuss public participation in decision-making, as well as social, environmental and infrastructure projects. Civil-society, business and government representatives from Western Kazakhstan will share their experience of civil-society oversight of government and industry, as an example of good practice in this field.
Stefan Buchmayer, Human Dimension Officer at the OSCE Centre in Astana, said: “The effective and sustainable development of the region requires transparency in information about the various investment projects undertaken by the extractive industry and the participation of the local community in decision making on their implementation. The role of the local administration in providing access to this information is of no less importance”.
“Good governance in the exploitation of natural resources can generate significant revenue to accelerate wealth creation and poverty eradication. The aims of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative – to contribute to this process through greater transparency and accountability in the extractive industries and the development of multilateral co-operation – are issues being discussed at today's event,” said Timurlan Baimukhambetov, the Deputy Head of the Entrepreneurship and Industry Division of Akimat of the Western Kazakhstan Oblast.
Anton Artemyev, the Program Director of the Soros Foundation, Kazakhstan, said: “Public participation in decision making contributes to the efficiency of government agencies’ work, as well as to the stable social and economic development of the region. The establishment of a Multilateral Council in Western Kazakhstan will bring real benefits to all parties – the public, government and business – by increasing the return from the projects. The Council should be established on the basis of partnership and equal participation.”
Participants exchanged views on different models of co-operation between the government, private companies and the public sector in Western Kazakhstan. Other regions have already started work on establishing multi-stakeholder councils of representatives of the wider public, government and business to participate in the approval and the monitoring of investment projects for sustainable development.
The event is part of the Centre’s promotion of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) – the international standard for extractive industry revenue transparency, implemented in Kazakhstan since 2005. It was jointly organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana, the Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan, the local administration of the Western Kazakhstan Oblast, and Zaman, an Uralsk-based non-governmental organization.