 "Companies should implement corporate governance principles if they want to obtain external finance from the stock exchange, the capital market or the banks," said H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Minister of Investment for the Arab Republic of Egypt. Dr. Mohieldin was speaking at an event organized by the Egyptian Institute of Directors in cooperation with UNCTAD.
Speaking at Egypt's 2nd Annual International Conference on Corporate Governance, Dr. Mohieldin referred to the increasing sophistication of the corporate governance debate in Egypt, observing that:
The Minister went on to highlight the importance of capacity building to ensure that private sector leaders had the skills to meet the demands of good corporate governance. Dr. Mohieldin explained, "About 1000 executive leaders in public and private companies were trained by 20 effective trainers hired by the Egyptian Institute of Directors and the Egyptian institute took part in 25 seminars, conferences and workshops at the Arab and International levels."
H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin (left) confers with UNCTAD's Ms. Nazha Benabbes Taarji-Aschenbrenner (right) | Ms. Nazha Benabbes Taarji-Aschenbrenner, Officer-in-Charge of UNCTAD's Enterprise Development Branch, also delivered a keynote address to the conference, observing that enterprise development is a key ingredient in the national development strategies of developing countries, and one of the key drivers of enterprise development is the Board of Directors. Ms. Benabbes Taarji-Aschenbrenner stressed that "Board development is a critical component of enterprise development. The members of the Board of Directors are responsible for… enabling enterprises to focus on growth, competitiveness and sustainability." In this context she emphasized that "Directors are important partners in development, who have a responsibility to the stakeholders of today and tomorrow."
Ms. Benabbes Taarji-Aschenbrenner also highlighted the role of corporate reporting as a critical function for Directors. The subject of corporate reporting was further elaborated in a presentation by Anthony Miller, an Economic Affairs Officer within the Enterprise Development Branch. Mr. Miller provided an overview of UNCTAD's research on corporate governance disclosure and pointed out gaps between the requirements of stock exchanges and the actual practices of enterprises. He emphasized the need for more capacity building projects to train Directors on the subject of corporate governance disclosure.
The Cairo conference featured a range of international experts on corporate governance disclosure and attracted over 300 participants from Egypt as well as other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Participants included representatives of government, regulators, institutional investors, international organisations and publicly listed companies.
Speakers included experts from:
- the Egyptian Ministry of Finance
- the OECD
- the International Finance Corporation
- and the Cairo Alexandria Stock Exchange
Corporate governance is one of the subjects addressed at the annual sessions of the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR). As an outcome of Egypt's participation in ISAR, the Egyptian Institute of Directors (EIoD) requested the UNCTAD secretariat to assist in organizing a regional conference in Cairo, Egypt. From 3-6 November 2008, ISAR will be holding its 25th anniversary session in Geneva. While in Cairo, Ms. Benabbes Taarji-Aschenbrenner held talks with Dr. Mohieldin about the upcoming 25th session of ISAR, including Egypt's possible involvement in the Ministerial Round Table to be held on day one of the ISAR meeting.
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…the dialogue [has] moved from general corporate governance issues to specific issues related to the composition and the role of the board in implementing transparency and disclosure 
