NRGI hosted a discussion on the subject of enforcing fiscal discipline in Mongolia. A consultant for NRGI presented the findings of her research, entitled “Can the proposed fiscal council help improve fiscal discipline in Mongolia?” to a diverse audience of government officials, researchers, private sector executives and citizens.
Ces deux semaines de formation m’ont appris beaucoup de choses à travers les cours théoriques, la sortie sur le terrain et les échanges avec les autres camarades. Mme Zongo est Député à l’Assemblée Nationale du Burkina Faso et ingénieur hydrogéologue de formation. Cet entretien a porté sur une initiative inédite au Burkina, la commission d’enquête parlementaire sur le secteur extractif, et les perspectives ouvertes par la formation.
Across the world, journalists have been key to uncovering malfeasance in the natural resources sector. Media have exposed illicit activities by international oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell in Nigeria. They have shed light on Cameroon petroleum contracts that bring few benefits to locals and to national accounts.
Each year, the Natural Resource Governance Institute and Gadjah Mada University’s Department for Politics and Government host a residential training course on extractives governance in Indonesia. In 2018, NRGI and partners produced videos covering the course and interviews with course participants.
Increasing transparency as well as business and civic engagement in government contracting are powerful ways to craft better agreements, improve public services, deter fraud and corruption, build trust and promote a more competitive business environment. A new report from NRGI and the Open Contracting Partnership details how to do it.
Alexander Malden, Toyin Akinniyi, Zira John Quaghe
This level of immediate national press coverage reaffirms the importance of payments to government data to citizens in resource-rich countries, and how it is increasingly informing national debates on countries’ natural resources management.
Political parties can help ensure that their country gets the best deal for the extraction of its resources, manages revenues for the long-term best interests of citizens and avoids the resource curse.
In a report, Rio Tinto was accused of “illegitimately lowering” its withholding taxes paid to the government of Mongolia in relation to the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine. Rio allegedly did this by using a double tax agreement between Mongolia and the Netherlands, in addition to which it negotiated an even lower rate of withholding tax in its amended mining agreement in 2011. This piece reviews Rio’s tax arrangements.
