MEETING WITH HELEN CLARK, CHAIR OF THE EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE
President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga, who is paying a working visit to the Kingdom of Norway, met Helen Clark, Chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), today.
Ms. Clark had worked as Member of the New Zealand Parliament for 28 years, Prime Minister for 9 years, and the United Nations Development Programme Administrator for 8 years before she was appointed EITI Chair.
Guided by the belief that a country’s natural resources belong to its citizens, the EITI is an intergovernmental organization for the promotion of open and accountable management of extractive resources.
Mongolia joined the initiative in 2007. At the meeting with the President of Mongolia, Ms. Clark expressed her view saying that “Mongolia is an active participant in the EITI, taking initiatives towards promoting transparency of the extractive industry.”
President Battulga expressed full support towards the initiative which promotes transparency over mining industry revenues and ownership, how revenues are spent by the government, and how they benefit the public. The President noted the importance of transparency in establishing a wealth fund and expressed interest in inviting the experts of EITI, which has amassed years of experience in this area, to Mongolia for collaboration. Ms. Clark accepted the proposal of President Battulga and thanked him for the meeting.
