Experts agree on strategies for corporate governance reform

An international group of experts has concluded its meeting in London by making key recommendations to develop new strategies on corporate governance for 2007 and beyond.

The recommendations, which include policy innovation, development of new key areas with a focus on poor countries and development of legislative frameworks for corporate governance, will be submitted to Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon.

The meeting was held at the Commonwealth Secretariat’s headquarters in Marlborough House on 20 February 2007, and brought together stakeholders and development partners from global and regional organisations across the Commonwealth.

During his inaugural address, Mr McKinnon urged participants to focus on issues in the best interests of Commonwealth member countries so as to fit in with emerging trends of corporate governance and be prepared for the future.

“We don’t want to be yesterday’s people dealing with yesterday’s problems. We need to see that Commonwealth countries are prepared for the future,” said the Secretary-General.

“The essence of the Commonwealth approach is that it combines global best practices with grassroots experience, and shares them across the extensive network of the Commonwealth family.”

"We must link corporate governance with broader goals in the Commonwealth, namely poverty eradication, democratic governance, the rule of law and institutional development."

Delegates reviewed the progress made so far, looked at the best strategies for corporate governance reforms and also commended the Secretariat for its role in promoting good policies for corporate governance.

Speaking to Commonwealth and News and Information Service on the sidelines of the meeting, Mr Mohamed Bourenane, Manager of the Private Sector Department, African Development Bank said: “The Secretariat should particularly focus its attention on disseminating corporate governance best practices within post-conflict, fragile small and isolated states.”

The Head of the World Bank Group's Global Corporate Governance Forum, Phil Armstrong, stressed the need to involve the public's view on the Commonwealth's governance policies.

"It is important to evaluate people's assessment of how successful they feel the Commonwealth approach to good governance has been in the past, and understand where it wants to fit in corporate governance policies," said Mr Armstrong.

Karugor Gatamah, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Corporate Governance, Secretariat for the Pan-African Consultative Forum on Corporate Governance, added: “There’s a need for effective co-ordination of a policy framework that improves the lives of people in the Commonwealth through sustainable creation of employment, enhanced concepts of ownership in public and private partnership and a focus on indigenous people.”

Regional consultations will now be held to fine tune the strategies. The resulting strategy document will then be presented at this September's Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting in Guyana and at the biennial Heads of Government Meeting due in Kampala, Uganda, in November.

Secretariat Links:

• Governance
• Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation