Former President Mogae to attend Resource Revenue Conference in Zurich

source: Republic of Botswana (18/6/09): TAUTONA TIMES no 16 of 2009
The Weekly Electronic Press Circular of the Office of the President
"Democracy, Development, Dignity and Discipline"

C10) 8/6/09: Former President Mogae to attend Resource Revenue Conference in Zurich

Members of the press are hereby informed that H.E. the Former President Mr. Festus G. Mogae left for Zurich, Switzerland last evening to attend a one-day conference on resource revenue transparency organised by Swissaid.

The Conference, which focuses on the need for resource-rich countries to be more transparent with the utilisation of revenues accrued from natural resources, will take place, tomorrow Tuesday 9th June 2009.

The Former President has been invited to make a presentation on "The Resource Curse and How to Deal With It: A Perspective from Botswana".

Mr. Mogae will return immediately after the Conference arriving home Wednesday 10 June 2009 in the afternoon.

According to the Conference organisers when revenue flows between extracting companies and the governments of host countries can be tracked, people have a better chance of holding both investors and their leaders to account. Developing economies can thus reap the benefits of reduced corruption and of a more stable investment climate.

In doing business in many developing countries, oil, gas and mining companies are often confronted with widespread corruption and armed conflicts. This can have a negative effect on corporate profits, and thus ability to invest, as well as undermine the potential benefits of mineral revenues to the wellbeing of the citizens of the said countries.

Currently there are two major global initiatives pushing for more transparency in revenues from natural resources: Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and Publish What You Pay (PWYP).