Natural Resources and Violent Conflict - WaterWiki.net

attracting reputable companies 329much of it in the oil and gas industry. Investment on this scale has thepotential to stimulate social and economic growth but may alsodeepen inequalities and increase the risks of corruption. The dialogueis designed to find ways of preventing oil investment from triggeringconflict.One of the themes identified by the project is the need for businessdiversification so that the economy is not overly dependent on petroleum.Participants have set up the Business Development Allianceto promote the growth of the private sector. The Business DevelopmentAlliance is a network of international and local companies and businessassociations, government, international and local nongovernmentalorganizations, and international development agencies. It serves toenhance coordination between different initiatives, identify gaps inAzerbaijan’s economic development, and develop strategies to addressthem.The Business Development Alliance is keen to promote local entrepreneurship.Among other activities, it has set up a supplier databaseto provide an instant connection between buyers and sellers, and it isencouraging the creation of new institutions to increase the availabilityof credit to local companies.Danish Industries: Capacity Building through Chambers of Commerce.A valuable example of a set of bilateral initiatives comes fromDanish Industries, the Danish employers’ federation, which has beenworking with its counterparts in China, Ghana, Lithuania, Tanzania,Uganda, and Zimbabwe to build up their technical capacity (DanishIndustries 2001). Among other measures, Danish Industries has beenadvising its international counterparts on advocacy strategies. In turn,the local chambers have been advising their own governments onbest practice, for example, on commercial law reform, an issue withimportant implications for the fight against corruption.Statoil: Sponsorship of Judicial Training in Venezuela. In 1999Statoil Venezuela, a subsidiary of the Norwegian company Statoil,formed a partnership with UNDP, the local branch of AmnestyInternational, and the Consejo de la Judicatura, which is the branchof the judiciary responsible for training and administration. 30 In thefirst phase of the project, which began in 1999, Statoil sponsored aseries of training-the-trainers sessions on human rights issues. Thesessions involved 24 specially selected judges and were conductedby Amnesty International in collaboration with the judiciary. In thesecond phase, which began after some delay in 2001, the originaltrainees conducted a series of follow-up training sessions for judges intwo states.