The Chair welcomed the MSG members, thanked them for coming to the meeting, and congratulated them on achieving EITI candidacy status. He encouraged all the members to continue to work together collaboratively to achieve EITI compliant status, even though there may be difficulties.

He highlighted the importance of carrying out EITI outreach activities and suggested that it will be more effective to discuss and raise awareness about EITI by not combining it with other issues. He also mentioned that given the time constraints now faced, that sub-committees should be established again to plan and implement prioritised activities in the MEITI workplan which can carried out simultaneously. In terms of the first EITI report, he suggested that all stakeholders need to carefully consider and give some thought to what they think is feasible and appropriate in the first year. He suggested that the scope could be limited to one or two sectors in the first year to ensure more comprehensive coverage.