http://active.org.au/sydney/news/front.php3?article_id=2581&group=webcast
Eyes on EFIC network launched by Kate Walsh 5:01pm Mon Aug 25 '03 article#2581 phone: (02) 9557 8944 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Leading Australian non-government organisations and community groups launched the �Eyes on EFIC� network today. The Export Finance Insurance Corporation (EFIC) is the Australian Export Credit Agency. EFIC provides government backed loans and insurance for Australian companies exporting to risky markets overseas. Their mandate is to increase Australian exports. Whilst increasing Australian exports, EFIC has also financed a swathe of projects that have left a legacy of environmental and social disasters around the world from the Ok Tedi and Lihir Mines in PNG to defence exports to Indonesia. EFIC has no development mandate despite currently generating 96.4% of [Australian] bilateral developing country debt. �Public money has been used to underwrite all of these projects with minimal accountability to the Australian public. Eyes are now turned on EFIC and we will be watching their actions, � said Kate Walsh from Australia�s leading aid and trade watchdog, AID/WATCH. The �Eyes on EFIC� network is linked to an active international campaign that is monitoring the activities of Export Credit Agencies. ECAs are now the largest source of public finance for the developing world, dwarfing the World Bank and regional development banks. For more information about the international campaign please see http://www.eca-watch.org The network will disseminate information and latest research about EFIC projects, and link in with the international campaign on Export Credit Agencies. Current members of the network include: Australian Conservation Foundation Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET) APHEDA � Union Aid Abroad Australia Tibet Council ATTAC Bougainville Freedom Movement Climate Action Network, Australia (CANA) Friends of the Earth, Australia Global Justice Coalition Global Trade Watch Greenpeace Australia Pacific Jubilee 2000/ Drop the Debt The Mineral Policy Institute (MPI) PNG Solidarity Alliance Rainforest Information Centre SEARCH Foundation WTO Watch For more information or interviews, contact: Kate Walsh, AID/WATCH Campaigner 02 9557 8944 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.aidwatch.org.au/ ===== Free West Papua ! Free Aceh ! Papua Merdeka !!! Aceh Merdeka !!! ===== -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
