Business | Economy
Task force for corporate governance
A two-day workshop on improving corporate governance in the Middle East and North Africa proposed the setting up of two task forces to draw up guidelines for banks and state-owned enterprises.
- By Arif Sharif, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 November 28, 2006
Dubai: A two-day workshop on improving corporate governance in the Middle East and North Africa proposed the setting up of two task forces to draw up guidelines for banks and state-owned enterprises.
Nasser Saidi, director of workshop organisers Hawkamah, the institute of corporate governance in the DIFC, said the two task forces will be set up over the next few months and include representatives of countries in the region as well as partner institutions.
The task forces will provide regional guidelines on corporate governance based on international best practices, define policy priorities and set the milestones for time-bound action in these areas.
Saidi said improving corporate governance of the region's banks was the top priority owing to its key position in the economy and developing good standards was crucial to developing sound and efficient financial markets.
"This is a landmark event for the MENA OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) investment programme," Rainer Geiger, deputy director for financial and enterprise affairs at partner institution OECD, told the conference.
"We look forward to achieving significant concrete progress in 2007."
The two task forces will include representatives of 13 MENA countries as well as from partner institutions like Hawkamah, the OECD and the International Finance Corporation.
Participants at the conference said they hoped to have complete guidelines on governance standards for banks before the end of 2007 and also expect to have made substantial progress on guidelines for state-owned enterprises by then.
The decision to set up the task forces are part of a Dubai Declaration on Corporate Governance, which also resolved to work further on corporate governance of family-owned businesses and small and medium enterprises.
A declaration statement said succession planning, reporting and decision-making systems as well as improving access to finance through public listing will be among the issues discussed.
It said participants agreed to hold a workshop to decide on how to carry this work forward.
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