Saudi Aramco partners with Pearl Initiative to promote corporate governance
World markets are rapidly evolving, and the Gulf region’s private sector has an increasingly global impact on this evolution. At the same time, global expectations of corporate governance standards have been rising, which in turn is having an impact on how companies in the Gulf region conduct business and plan for the future. This means that it is now essential to drive growth through competitive and sustainable business practices. Ninety two per cent of CEOs surveyed by the Pearl Initiative believe that working towards sustainable development goals will have a positive impact on their business, and 89 per cent say that it can create concrete business opportunities.
To this end, Saudi Aramco and the Pearl Initiative, the leading Gulf-based non-profit organization promoting a corporate culture of accountability as a key driver of competitiveness across the region, have announced their strategic partnership. These new partners share a deep commitment to promoting corporate governance within the region’s business landscape.
As a part of the partnership, Saudi Aramco and the Pearl Initiative will host a high-level forum, Governance in Focus: Boosting Competitiveness in a New Business Paradigm, held under the patronage of His Excellency Khalid A. Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia. More than 300 global business leaders, ministers, senior government officials and members of corporate and civil society are expected to attend the forum, which will be held on Wednesday, 25 April 2018, at the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Riyadh.
“Effective governance is vital for maintaining the highest standards of ethical conduct and for promoting best practices in effective oversight, leadership, and reporting,” said Amin Nasser, President and CEO of Saudi Aramco. “With that in mind, we are glad to partner with the Pearl Initiative to deliver the Governance in Focus forum which will focus on the important role of corporate governance in enhancing business resilience and the investment ecosystem.”
Badr Jafar, Founder of the Pearl Initiative said: “The strategic partnership with Saudi Aramco provides a unique opportunity to collaborate with one of the world’s most influential companies at a time when strong leadership to promote corporate accountability and governance is so important. Through this partnership, we look forward to bringing the global discussion about the fundamentally changing landscape for business to the region and debate the role for corporate governance in supporting growth, investment and innovation in the Gulf Region and globally.”
