J. Brady Anderson, Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, urged economic reform in transitional economies by "developing higher standards of transparency, accountability, fairness and responsibility in the commercial sector. That means such things as having a strong Board of Directors, regulations on shareholder rights, and accepted standards for financial accountability and transparency. These rules and procedures are essential for the development of a competitive commercial sector in today's global economy."
His remarks in June announced USAID's award of a $500,000 grant to support CIPE's Regional Corporate Governance Initiative. The initiative was launched on September 22 & 23 in Bulgaria, where more than 80 representatives from 20 nations in Eurasia and Central and Eastern Europe participated in a conference on "Business Views on Corporate Governance: Building New Structures in Emerging Markets."
This was CIPE's fifth regional conference on corporate governance, an event that was co-hosted by the Sofia-based Center for the Study of Democracy, a CIPE grantee, and supported by the National Endowment for Democracy and the East-East Program of the Open Society Institute.
Richard Miles, U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria, summed up the importance of the conference this way: "By involving business representatives, local think tanks and policy institutions, and the international community, the meeting in Sofia encouraged practitioners from around the world to compare notes, share experiences, and work together to implement corporate governance reforms throughout the region."
The meeting focused on five key themes:
Dr. Ognian Shentov, President of the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), has been a leading proponent of good governance and democratic, market-oriented reform in Bulgaria. The CSD led the initiative to establish "Coalition 2000," a widespread effort to fight corruption involving the private sector, NGOs, the academic community, and all branches of the Government of Bulgaria.
Shentov said that the corporate governance conference and the work of Coalition 2000 "promote values linked with emerging capital markets, increase public awareness of market values and mechanisms, and serve as a 'watchdog' for the economic reform process by encouraging transparency, clear rules of law, integrity, and the democratic process."
The conference created a unique dynamic in which members of the business community, market participants, and brain trusts worked together to forge their own approaches to corporate governance. By focusing on building local demand for corporate governance, the event brought together a strong network of regional leaders who will provide the impetus needed to implement this program's goals in the months ahead.