Oman Corporate Governance Conference urges more initiatives for boosting investor confidence

The conference was graced by H E Sayyid Ali Bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court, Sultanate of Oman.

The conference looked at the various aspects of Corporate Governance such as:
- Its relevance in today's businesses as well as the status of corporate governance.
- Implementation of its principles in the GCC states.
- The role of civil society organizations in supporting and enhancing corporate governance.
- Its role in supporting and activating modernization and economic development programs and its role in creating investment friendly market for local and foreign investments.

Members attending the conference included officials from Ministries of Commerce, Industry, Finance and Economy in the GCC states, Local, Regional and International Economic and Development Authorities and Councils, Hawakmah, The Institute for Corporate Governance as well as various private and public enterprises.

While elaborating on the importance of Corporate Governance in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Ms. Safa Al Hashem, Chairman and Managing Director, Advantage Consulting Company, Kuwait said,

"Corporate Governance is absolutely imperative in the smooth functioning of businesses as it enables businesses to maximize long-term stakeholder value by inculcating transparency, independence, accountability, responsibility and fairness."

Ms. Al Hashem said, "The importance of the implementation of a good corporate governance system into our businesses becomes evident as we become sensitive to the sheer number of SMEs in our economy. SMEs form the primary drivers for economic growth and innovation and are significant contributors to industrial output."

"By implementing good Corporate Governance in our SMEs we would improve operational performance, increase access to external finance, improve relationships with stakeholders and reduce the risk of being affected by a financial crisis."

"Enforcing good Corporate Governance," added Ms. Al Hashem, "would enable effective management of conflicts of interest, provide a clear roadmap on the role of Board of Directors ensuring transparency, as well as define the role of control functions like internal and external auditors which will ensure that the organization is managed in a professional and accountable manner."

Also speaking at the conference was, Mr. David Hew, the world renowned subject matter expert on offset programs, the founder of the Asia Pacific Countertrade Association (APCA) as well as the knowledge partner of Advantage in the area of Offset Advisory. Mr. Hew enlightened the conference with the specifics of a good offset program and why it is necessary in the GCC.

Mr Hew elaborated how proper implementation of good corporate governance can benefit all parties in an offset program. He also brought to light various key governance issues that need to be considered and tackled in order to be successful in an Offset program.

Emphasizing the importance of good corporate governance in offset programs, Mr Hew said, "The essence of an offset program is to enable effective knowledge transfer and ensure job creation for nationals. It is imperative that this essence of offset programs be preserved. Some offset models in the GCC are based on venture capital models which strips the basic idea behind an offset program."

Mr Hew added, "By enforcing a good corporate governance model we can ensure that the essence of offset programs can be preserved and enable maximum benefit from them"

While speaking about offset programs, Ms. Safa Al Hashem announced that Advantage Consulting Company now offers exclusive offset advisory services to governments in the GCC.