From 16-18 February 2009, the Government of Qatar will play host to an estimated 600 government, industry and institutional leaders at the Ritz-Carlton Doha where they will be attending and participating in the 4th EITI International Conference.
De Beers will be amongst the private sector companies attending the conference. Other stakeholder groups include national governments, the extractive industries, intergovernmental institutions, international and civil society organizations.
The International Conferences - the highest governing body of the EITI - provide a unique forum to hear profiled keynote speakers from a wide range of geographic and institutional perspectives express their views on transparency and proper management of the extractives sector.
Confirmed speakers already include Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia, Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank, Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana, George Soros, founder of the Soros Foundation and Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell.
EITI International Conferences are the highest governing body of the EITI. They provide an opportunity for the International Board and the EITI stakeholders to jointly take stock of the benefits and progress of the EITI, find common solutions for tackling challenges and chart next steps for supporting and advancing good governance in the extractive industries.
Previous Conferences have been significant milestones along the way, guiding the development of the EITI into the growing global initiative it is today.
Thus the Lancaster House Conference (2003) marked the transition from the EITI as an idea to the EITI as a reality; the London Conference (2005) gave this reality substance with the development of the EITI Criteria and Guidelines; and the Oslo Conference (2006) took the initiative one step further, marking the transition from EITI design to EITI implementation.
As for the coming Doha Conference, the EITI Chairman, Dr. Peter Eigen says that it will be ‘a pivotal event in consolidating the EITI as the global standard for transparency in resource revenue management’.