The Arabia CSR Network conducted its second workshop of 2010 yesterday, in partnership with Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance. The cooperation came forth out of an MoU signed by the two entities on 17 March 2010 and bundles the expertise and experience of two organizations dedicated to improving responsible corporate behavior in the Arab world.
The workshop, entitled Transparency & Good Governance in the Arab world, centered on the important issues of Disclosure, Governance and Sustainability and the way forward after the lessons learned from the global financial and economic crisis. The workshop, attended by over 35 business leaders from across the Arab world explored the realities of transparency and disclosure trends in the Arab world and drew conclusions from the recent corporate scandals that have beleaguered the region, before providing attendees with practical examples and tools on how to implement disclosure strategies into their own organizations.
As has now become tradition; this second workshop in the 2010 series of the Arabia CSR Network was linked to the UN Global Compact, and in particular to its principle on Anti- Corruption.
Welcoming the attendees to the workshop, Arabia CSR Network president Habiba Al Marashi said that: “It is clear that the lack of transparency and sound disclosure practices have been a major driver for the global crisis that has affected us all.” She called on attendees to “View the current financial situation as an opportunity for change and improvement.”
Dr. Nasser Saidi, Executive Director of Hawkamah, remarked in his opening key note presentation that: “statistical disclosure in the Arab region is the lowest in the world. We would like to move towards an Arab statistics disclosure system, which covers statistical disclosure in the Arab world.”
The second key note speaker of the day, Dr. Ibtissam Al Kitbi of the UAE University, imparted on attendees the moral imperative for Transparency and Good Governance in the Region, stating that: “at present, none of the GCC countries have a well functioning transparency and disclosure system in place”.
Following the key note presentations, several high level panel discussions took place, focusing on developing policies for increased competitiveness, sustainable investing and Environment, Social and Governance disclosure trends and the requirements of investors when
looking for strategic partnerships in the region. Participants in the discussions were, among others: the Community Development Authority, Standard and Poors, Invest AD, Abraaj Capital, IFC and the Oman Economists Society.
To arm attendees with practical tools to be the drivers for real change in their own organizations, two practical workshops were then conducted by Hawkamah and the Sustainability Advisory Group focusing on developing strategies to improve corporate governance in your organization and to implement environmental and social sustainability.
Participants will be provided with “white papers” summarizing the day’s sessions.
