Corporate Governance and Responsibility Forum - Day 1

This is a forum means a lot to me since I have been involved in it since its inception (which doesn’t really mean I have been actual work organizing it! Thanks Maali! :) until it became a reality. Today (March 13th) is the first day and it seems it is up to a good start.

Audience is coming from diverse backgrounds which is enriching. We have international organizations like the OECD, NGO’s, government agencies, and of course the private sector.
In the press conference, we were faced with some good questions, and here is a summary of key responses:

• This forum has not been prepared without regard to other seemingly similar forums and conferences, contrary we consulted with others to ensure the timing and theme meshes well with other events.
• In our forum we are concerned mostly on the view and the role that the private sector can play in instituting good governance and responsibility practices. Some of the comments assumed that we are planning that in isolation of the government, which is not really accurate since we have a good participation from relevant government agencies.
• Good corporate responsibility is not an issue of creating sets of laws, but a genuine and honest desire by companies to truly engage with the interests of their societies to create a sustainable development beneficial to both.
• No matter how tight rules and regulations are weaved, they cannot ensure a perfect state of good governance, transparency and ethical conduct. There has to be a balance between creating a good operational environment and making that environment a feasible one to operate in without too many complexities.

Witnessing the discussions of the day I got with some key observations. There has been some courageous remarks of leaders in their discussions, as in “we have been spending on responsibility programs for 10 years and people do not know about it. Shall we be more vocal about it?”. Oppennes of people was really good in sharing their experiences and being honest about waht worked and what didn't.

The general mood is one that is being influenced by two main forces: the sheer amount of challenge facing this region in creating sustainable development environment that creates jobs and enhances living conditions, AND having faith that what we do today and need to do tomorrow will succeed in addressing these challenges.

Although this forum is organized by my firm and partners, I am personally very satisfied with the whole setup and the logistics, which was immaculate.

Until tomorrow ..