Hawkamah to organise meet on corporate governance in MENA  

DUBAI — Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance (Hawkamah), a subsidiary of the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority, yesterday announced that it will hold the first ever conference focusing on corporate governance in the MENA region in Dubai on November 26-27, 2006.


"The theme of the conference 'Towards Sound and Efficient Financial Markets and Banking Systems' responds to the challenges faced by the region's countries in modernising their corporate sector. Addressing the financial markets and banking systems are keys to advancing corporate governance in the region," said Dr Nasser Saidi, Executive Director of Hawkamah.

The first corporate governance survey of GCC countries by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and Hawkamah published recently has found that in general, corporate governance in GCC countries lag significantly behind international corporate governance best practices among emerging markets.

The draft agenda of the conference includes sessions on the governance of family-owned enterprises, state owned enterprises, and on Shariah-compliant corporate governance, information technology governance, and insolvency frameworks.

Expert contributions are expected from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) , World Bank's Global Corporate Governance Forum, International Finance Corporation, Bank for International Settlements, International Corporate Governance Network, Centre for International Private Enterprise, Financial Services Volunteer Corps, INSOL International, ISACA (IT Professionals), Union of Arab Banks, Jordanian Corporate Governance Association, Egyptian Banking Institute, Egyptian Institute of Directors, among others.

Topics to be discussed will include the key findings from the Hawkamah-IFC MENA survey of 400 regional CEOs on standards of corporate governance in companies and banks. The session will examine the extent of corporate governance implementation in the region and initiate discussions on the next steps for reform. The conference will compare corporate governance development in the MENA region in relation to international trends, with focus on key issues and benefits for banks, family-owned enterprises and state-owned enterprises in implementing good governance. The two-day event will conclude with a MENA OECD Working Group meeting.

"Since corporate governance is an integral part of the regulatory framework necessary for any successful financial market, this conference will be vital to further economic growth across the region," said Dr Omar bin Sulaiman, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre.