Integrity and transparency can grow global GDP between 2% to 5%

Riyadh, KSA - As part of a collaboration project with Siemens to raise awareness and encourage the adoption of integrity practices in businesses across the Gulf Region, the Pearl Initiative, the leading independent organisation that encourages Gulf businesses to adopt higher standards of corporate governance, organised a roundtable with SABIC and PepsiCo today (Wednesday) to discuss the value of implementing integrity practices towards contributing to more sustainable organisations.

Titled “Business Integrity Principles: Driving Implementation for Sustainability”, the roundtable took place at the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, and was composed of experts from SABIC, represented by Waleed M. Alghosoon Senior Manager, international Trade Legal Affairs, and PepsiCo, represented by Yousef Walker, Director of Legal, PepsiCo GCC & Levant Foods; and was led by Carla Koffel, the Executive Director at the Pearl Initiative.

Opening the roundtable, Carla Koffel explained attendees and participants on Pearl Initiative’s objectives and plans towards promoting positive corporate governance practices through integrity, highlighting current challenges faced by organisations in the Gulf Region, as well as the benefits of addressing these challenges. Koffel also presented key facts and remarks around the Pearl Initiative’s upcoming activities as well as recent findings throughout its integrity programme.

“The budget to implement integrity practices has doubled from 25% to 50% over the last five years, according to a report published by the Organisation for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD) in 2015. Our integrity programme and roundtable addresses the opportunities which private companies can avail in the Gulf Region through transparency, accountability and good governance; and how these practices can function positively within the region’s current GDP growth, which was valued at more than USD 1.3tn in 2017,” said the Executive Director of the Pearl Initiative.

She added: “The workshop also falls within our mission which is to collectively promote the value of implementing good governance and transparency within the private sector. Recent studies have shown that companies who implement a consistent strategy with respect to integrity and transparency in business contribute anywhere from 2% to 5% to the global GDP growth annually.”

“This highlights the good business case toward implementing such governance standards, and we strive to work with our partners to host such workshops to share our findings while also providing toolkits and guidelines that are geared towards supporting corporations in implementing higher corporate governance standards for long-term value creation,” concluded the Executive Director of the Pearl Initiative.

During the discussion, Alghosoon highlighted some initiatives implemented by SABIC in developing its integrity framework, while also providing practical examples of how such initiatives can be rolled out across other organisations.

Yousef Walker pointed out during the discussion that not having adequate business integrity frameworks in place will no doubt disrupt the company’s ability to engage with multinational organisations, as they often have stringent requirements that need to be met to ensure that business integrity safeguards are adequately put into place.

He stressed that “in today’s international business landscape, strong corporate governance is the foundation for financial integrity, investor confidence and superior performance. Organisations need to ensure that corporate governance is not a check-the-box exercise, but is instead the dynamic, evolving framework that today’s rapidly changing business environment warrants.”

In addition to hosting events on this subject matter, the Pearl Initiative has developed the Gulf Integrity Indicator as a tool to measure integrity practices with an organisation and has also issued a series of reports as practical guides in Arabic and English on how to implement effective business integrity policies and initiatives.

Founded in 2010, Pearl Initiative is a Gulf business–led organisation promoting a corporate culture of accountability and transparency as a driver of competitiveness and sustainable economic growth across the Gulf region of the Middle East. The organisation develops programmes and publishes regional research reports and case studies, with aims to influence the regional business and student community towards implementing higher standards of corporate governance within the Gulf Region.

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About the Pearl Initiative

Prominent business leaders from across the Gulf Region formed the Pearl Initiative in 2010 to create a non-profit vehicle for the Private Sector to collectively take the lead in adopting higher standards in corporate governance, accountability and transparency to enhance business innovation, opportunity and value creation.

With over 40 regional and international partners, the Pearl Initiative brings together business, government and civil society decision-makers to share best business practices and to help maximise the economic opportunities available to companies within the region. The Pearl Initiative also supports Gulf-based university students to identify and embrace strong ethics as they embark on their future careers.

The Pearl Initiative seeks joint collaborative action between regional and global business leaders, international institutions, government bodies and wider initiatives within the Gulf Region, exhibiting positive leadership and sharing knowledge and experience in order to influence the entire regional business and student community.

For more information, please visit www.pearlinitiative.org or contact us on +971 6 515 4605 or via email at enquiries@pearlinitiative.org. Follow us also on @PearlInitiative on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter and @ThePearlInitiative on LinkedIn.

For further information, press requirements or support, please contact:

Mousa Nimer

National Network Communications (NNC)

+971 50 222 0561

m.nimer@nncpr.com

Brittany Brese

The Pearl Initiative

+971 6 515 4664

bbrese@pearlinitiative.org

© Press Release 2018

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