Blair commends Timor- Leste for transparency initiative
Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair
Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair praised Timor-Leste for its leadership in promoting governance and accountability at a recent conference in Dili.
Blair was on hand for a regional conference on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The initiative, which Blair founded in 2002, sets a standard for transparency in oil, gas and mining. The process promotes accountability in the energy and resource sectors and compliant countries are required to dis- close their financial transactions to the public.
Not every country is automatically accepted into the EITI group – Timor-Leste is the first nation in the Asia Pacific region and third country in the world accepted into the initiative. Timor-Leste has become a recog- nized leader in best practice innovations in resource management.
There are now 10 other countries in the group.
