A new feature this year was a session on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative on Thursday, 7 June. The conference was opened by the ambassadors of Norway and the United Kingdom, H.E. Mr. Jon Ramberg and H.E. Laurie Bristow. The Director of Azerbaijan's State Oil Fund (SOFAZ), Mr. Sabit Bagirov, and the Norwegian Deputy Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Ms. Anita Utseth, were keynote speakers. Representatives from the State Oil Company (SOCAR), international oil companies and the NGO EITI coalition also participated in this session. Representantives of other countries were also invited.
The Royal Norwegian Embassy took the initiative to arrange this conference. It was felt that it was time to take stock of the Azerbaijani record in fulfilling the EITI criteria as the country is on the threshold of vast incomes from the extraction of petroleum. Transparency and political accountability are the key principles of the EITI.
More information on the Extractive Industries Transparency Iniative could be found at
www.eitransparency.org.