Around the world, widespread corporate citizenship has become a hallmark of advanced economies and successful businesses. In Central and Eastern Europe, however, companies have undergone rapid and radical restructuring, forcing their managers to focus almost exclusively on corporate survival and the bottom line.
With this in mind, CIPE hosted a conference in Bucharest, Romania on October 29-30 entitled "The Role of the Corporation in Today's Society." The event brought together more than 100 participants from governments, business associations, think tanks, companies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from countries in Europe and the United States. The conference was supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, IBM, RJ Reynolds, The World Bank's Economic Development Institute, and OWZ Bayern.
Following six years of transformation and maturation, businesses in Central and Eastern Europe want to know more about what roles they might play in the economic and social development of their nations and communities. The Bucharest conference provided an opportunity for international corporations to share their "best practices" expertise in such areas as community economic development, corporate citizenship, education and training, outreach programs, philanthropy, and ethics.
Speakers at the conference included Romanian President Emil Constantinescu and Radu Sarbu, the newly appointed Director of the Romanian State Ownership Fund. In his welcoming remarks, William Kanaga, outgoing Chairman of CIPE's Board of Directors, noted, "While government plays a key role in determining the pace and direction of reform, the business community is an indispensable element of any reform program. In a democratic society, a corporation is no different from an individual: it must participate and contribute to that society's development. As with individuals, if a corporation chooses not to participate and share the burdens of democracy, it cannot expect to reap the benefits."