As part of efforts to promote democratic institutions and free markets around the world, CIPE supports corporate governance projects throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Working with local partners in each country, CIPE supports indigenous efforts to lay the foundations for corporate governance best practices. CIPE also worked with the Egyptian Ministry of Finance to create the Arabic term for corporate governance, hawkamat ash-sharikat, allowing corporate governance to be part of business dialogue in the Middle East for the first time.

New Initiatives

Corporate governance is key to creating better investment climates and a vibrant private sector. Although the institutional environments and cultures of countries across MENA are diverse, each is poised to move forward in establishing a framework for good corporate governance. In late 2007, CIPE launched a two-year regional corporate governance program with the support of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) of the U.S. Department of State. Already, this initiative is bearing fruit:

• In Bahrain, CIPE is partnering with the Bahrain Accountants Association (BAA) to assist the Corporate Governance Steering Committee in implementing Bahrain’s newly developed corporate governance code. CIPE and BAA recently convened a high-profile conference to release the draft code and begin a consultative process with the private sector to gain input on the draft.
• In Tunisia, CIPE and its partner L’Institute Arab de Chefs des Enterprises (IACE) created an Advisory Council on corporate governance, which is advancing implementation of CG principles and will undertake the establishment of an Institute of Corporate Governance. IACE is currently working on a manual of best practices and guidelines for corporate governance in Tunisia that will be released in June 2008.
• In Yemen, CIPE is partnering with the Yemen Businessmen’s Club (YBC), whose members include the next generation of leading family-owned businesses. YBC and CIPE established a CG Task Force that is currently working to evaluate the current legal and regulatory framework in order to draft corporate governance guidelines.

Success Highlights

• In Egypt, CIPE facilitated the establishment of the Egyptian Institute of Directors in 2004, which then drafted and implemented a national corporate governance code. CIPE worked closely with the Egyptian Junior Business Association, which published a manual, Corporate Governance in Family Businesses – the first of its kind in the MENA region.
• In Lebanon, CIPE partnered with the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) to create the Lebanese Corporate Governance Task Force, which developed a corporate governance code for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). CIPE is working with LTA on a collection of case studies that will provide SMEs with practical models of good governance implementation.
• CIPE launched the Hawkama website, www.hawkama.net, the first corporate governance website in the MENA region. The website contains information about the importance of corporate governance, up-to-date coverage of regional corporate governance initiatives, and resource links. CIPE produces periodical newsletters and articles in both Arabic and English on corporate governance trends.

Bahrain: Ken Rushton, a member of the Global Corporate Governance Forum Private Sector Advisory Group and former Director of Listing at the Financial Services Authority of the UK, gives keynote remarks at the launch of Bahrain's draft corporate governance code on May 6, 2008.

Upcoming Events

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Resources

Bahrain

Tunisia

Yemen

Conference Resources

Tunisia, May 28-July 1, 2008: Training of Trainers (TOT) on Corporate Governance

Bahrain, May 7-8, 2008: Workshop on Business Reporting and CG for Economic Journalists

Bahrain, May 6, 2008: Conference to Launch Draft Corporate Governance Code

Corporate Governance Trends

Current issue: Spring 2008 (English/Arabic) Past issues