Revenue collected from extractive industries accounted for about 50 percent of the country’s total export revenue in the 2013-14 fiscal year.

MYANMAR’s oil and gas sector generated a total revenue of nearly US$2.5 billion in the 2013-2014 fiscal year, said Dr Zaw Oo, an MEITI national coordinator, at a press conference yesterday.

This amount is equivalent to about 70 percent of the total revenues described in the first report of the Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (MEITI), which is expected to be published in late December this year.

With the purpose of disclosing information related to revenue received from the extractive industries to the public, the report has been compiled by the Multi-Stakeholders Group (MSG), comprising the government, private companies and civil society organisations, since mid-2014.

Deputy Finance Minister Dr Maung Maung Thein, who also serves as a chairman of the MSG, said the report has a 100 percent scope on the oil and gas sector and also includes tax revenues generated from gem sales and mining industries.

Revenue collected from extractive industries accounted for about 50 percent of the country’s total export revenue in the 2013-2014 fiscal year, said U Min Zar Ni from the MEITI National Coordination Office.

Myanmar was approved as the 45th candidate to participate in the EITI in July last year by the International EITI Board at its 27th meeting. Myanmar will be recognised as a compliant country in mid-2017 provided that the International EITI Board concludes that the country has fulfilled all the requirements of the EITI.

The first MEITI report will be published no later than 2 January next year, and the country will publish its second report in early 2017.

Dr Maung Maung Thein said: “Not only companies but also the government face many difficulties and challenges compiling figures for the preparation of the EITI report.”

“Initially, companies are hesitant to provide their accounts and figures due to a lack of practice. Governmental departments have weak data-entry systems and still rely on paper-based systems,” he said.

“There has been 100-percent participation from the government and 95-percent participation by private companies under in the EITI’s purview,” he added.