SHARJAH- Pearl Initiative, the leading business-led non-profit organisation, and AQ&P, a strategic environmental, social, and corporate governance consulting firm based in Dubai, entered into a strategic cooperation agreement to collaborate on a programme of high importance to micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs, in the Gulf Region.
The agreement was recently signed by Sheikh Fahim Al Qasimi, Partner, AQ&P, and Yasmine Omari, Executive Director, Pearl Initiative. This partnership forms part of the Pearl Initiative’s Governance in MSMEs programme and has been forged to pool the parties’ combined expertise and knowledge of corporate governance to analyse contemporary gaps in the implementation of governance principles by MSMEs. It will run from December 2019 to June 2020.
These efforts build on past research undertaken by the Pearl Initiative, which established that the performance of many MSMEs in the Gulf Region was curtailed due to a lack of awareness on the importance of the application of corporate governance principles. This partnership is a step towards addressing corporate governance challenges for MSMEs, which will be tackled using a specialised tool, the Corporate Governance Codex, which will be utilised to prepare free individual analyses of the internal governance structures and frameworks of regional MSMEs.
These analyses will be cumulatively studied to identify gaps in the implementation of corporate governance policies, after which bespoke training workshops will be offered to bridge such gaps. Pearl Initiative and AQ&P will publish their findings in a joint Case Study Report, which will serve as a guide to good corporate governance practices and help MSMEs evaluate their governance frameworks, while benchmarking themselves against regional best practices.
Al Qasimi said, "Through our collaborative research, we aim to identify a baseline of corporate governance in the region, with a clear route to a regionally specific set of codes and frameworks.
The business environment and culture is unique in the region and therefore it is our responsibility to develop our own best practices in governance." Omari said, "Putting in place a robust framework will enable MSMEs in achieving success and creating value that will ensure sustainability, while also creating opportunities for increased investments and supporting companies in identifying risks, while also mitigating against them, irrespective of their sector or size."
© Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2019.
