ABU DHABI: The Abu Dhabi Center for Corporate Governance (ADCCG), an initiative by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), organized a seminar on “Developing of Corporate Governance Codes and Regulations: Emerging Challenges for Board Members and Executives” at the Chamber’s Tower in Abu Dhabi.
Sanad Al-Miqbali, Board Member at the Abu Dhabi Chamber, and more than 80 of the biggest companies in Abu Dhabi attended the seminar.
At the beginning of the seminar, His Excellency Mohammed Helal Al-Muhairi, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Chamber, said that companies and establishments in our region now race to announce their implantation of governance in their internal and external affairs in order to develop their investments and attract more local and foreign investments as well as increasing their savings and profitability, creating new job opportunities, limiting capital migration, encouraging the workforce for more productivity and deepening their trust in the company.
Al-Muhairi added that the companies desirous of implementing the practical applications of the concept of governance should focus on subjects that of most importance including developing governance codes and regulations and facing the emerging challenges for board members and executives which would help these companies enhance their efficiency and increase their productivity and revenues.
The Director General emphasizes that public and private companies operating in the UAE were proactive in implementing the concept of governance in all its ideologies, approaches and dimensions which contributed to providing a healthy working environment reflected on the performance and fame of these companies in a way that made out of the UAE a destination for a huge number of regional and international companies which took from the country a launching pad for their regional and international businesses.
Al-Muhairi also pointed to the awareness of the ADCCG in giving economic companies the opportunity to update their information on the importance of implementing the concept of governance and its mechanisms in a way that contributes to achieving more development and progress. He also praised the ADCCG and the OECD for holding this seminar and spreading awareness amid companies regarding the emerging challenges which face board members and executives.
Alissa Amico, Project Manager, Middle East and North Africa, Corporate Affairs Division at the OECD, delivered a presentation during the seminar in which she viewed the new challenges which face board members and executives, especially in regard to committing to their legal obligations and enabling companies preserve their competitive capabilities in global markets as well as achieving listing requirements and attracting corporate investments.
She also spoke of the origins of corporate governance rules in the region and the evolution of these rules and codes and the development of the institutional framework as well as the role of stock exchanges in encouraging companies adopt and implement the concept of governance.
