• Strategies for Advancing Reform in Latin America
  Economic reforms in Latin America had made significant progress during the late 80s and early 90s. Inflation seemed to be successfully tamed, budget deficits were reduced, and growth had been steadily recovering from the lost decade of the 80s. However, more frequently the words "stagnation" and "backsliding" are now being used to describe the economies and reform process in Latin America. Can the reform process be re-ignited? What role can private business play in re-energizing reforms?
  This book is now available in the CIPE Bookstore

• Coalition Building and Monitoring for Anti-Corruption: Southeast Europe
  On July 12, 2001, the Heritage Foundation, the Center for International Private Enterprise, and the Center for the Study of Democracy (Sofia, Bulgaria) held a policy briefing at the United States Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the policy briefing was to introduce the US policy and think tank community to the work of SELDI to diagnose and advocate for policy reforms. The briefing focused on the impact of the shadow economy and illegal trafficking in goods on governance structures in the region and public-private models for cooperation. Comparative corruption diagnostics for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania and Yugoslavia were presented.
  
  
• Fighting Corruption in Developing Countries and Emerging Economies: The Role of the Private Sector
  The negative impact of corruption on the private sector have in many countries forced what would be legitimate business into the informal economy, leaving a smaller business sector to shoulder the tax burden. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - Development Centre, the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) held a conference to define the private sectors' role in reducing corruption and creating a healthy business environment. The conference was held in Washington, DC February 22-23 and was attended by over 200 public and private sector leaders.

• Corporate Governance for Sustainable Growth, Ghana
  CIPE sponsored a two-day conference in Accra, Ghana that brought together over 50 public and private sector participants from Ghana and Nigeria. The conference was made possible with funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Exxon-Mobile, and in cooperation with the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in Ghana and the Development Policy Center in Nigeria.
  
  
• The Role of the Corporation in Today's Society
  The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) hosted a two-day regional conference on "The Role of the Corporation in Today's Society", held in Bucharest, Romania, in October 1998. The conference's 100 participants consisted of leaders from international corporations as well as leaders of business institutions from throughout Central and Eastern Europe. The primary goal of the conference was to initiate a dialogue within the Central and East European business community on the civic role corporations should play in a market-oriented democracy. A half-day at the conference was also divided into two working groups, a capacity-building workshop for think tanks and a roundtable discussion on the major challenges facing business associations in the region.
  
  
• Business Views on Corporate Governance
  The Center for International Private Enterprise held a regional forum on corporate governance in Sofia, Bulgaria, September 22-23, 2000, in partnership with local co-host, the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD). The conference was generously supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and also by the East-East Program of the Open Society Institute. The fifth in a series of regional conferences focusing on reform issues, the event was a successful kickoff to CIPE's Regional Corporate Governance Initiative.
  
  
• Transparency and Corporate Governance
  Mark Baird, World Bank's country director of Indonesia, spoke at CIPE's conference on Freedom of Economic Information for Effective Governance in Jakarta, Indonesia. Baird discussed the significance of corporate governance, how a lack of transparency and corporate governance procedures contributed to the financial crisis in Asia, and the important role the media has played in advancing reform in Indonesia.
  
  
• Building Sound Corporate Governance for Global Competitiveness
  CIPE's Executive Director spoke to the Colombian Confederation of Chambers of Commerce in Cartagena, Colombia. In his presentation, Dr. Sullivan explores why and how achieving first-class corporate governance is a necessary step toward energizing Colombian businesses to compete vigorously in a global economy.

• Freedom of Economic Information For Effective Governance
  Held April 24-26, 2000 in Jakarta, Indonesia, the conference on Freedom of Economic Information for Effective Governance was the second regional project implemented by the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) with the support of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) in Washington D.C.

• CIPE Workshop on the Informal Sector, São Paulo
  CIPE hosted a workshop entitled "Barriers to Participation: The Informal Sector in Emerging Democracies", November 13, 2000, in Sao Paulo, Brazil as part of the Second Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy (see www.wmd.org). The workshop brought together participants from various regions of the world and different sectors of society including informal sector experts and representatives from civil society such as business associations, think tanks, universities, labor unions, and human rights and pro-democracy groups for the purpose of stimulating discussion about informality and devising effective strategies to remove obstacles to formality.

Think Tanks

• Think Tanks as Civil Society Catalysts in the MENA Region: Fulfilling Their Potential
  Building upon its first jointly-sponsored program in Cairo, Egypt in November 1997, CIPE and the World Bank Institute (formerly known as the Economic Development Institute) co-sponsored a second regional conference for think tanks in the Middle East and North Africa. Taking place in Beirut, Lebanon from February 6-8, 1999, and hosted by the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, the conference, entitled, "Think Tanks as Civil Society Catalysts in the MENA Region: Fulfilling Their Potential," brought together more than 40 leaders of think tanks from throughout region. Dr. Kemal Dervis, Vice President of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa, opened the conference, and Dr. Nasser Saidi, Lebanon's minister of economy, presented a keynote address prepared by Dr. Salim al-Hoss, Prime Minister of Lebanon. The first day of the conference examined the major economic reform issues facing the region and the second day focussed on capacity building issues including a presentation by Dr. Diane Stone, a leading expert on think tanks and transnational policy networks.
  
  This book is now on sale in the CIPE Bookstore.

U.S.- China Relations

• View & Perspective: The Rise Of China's Private Sector and Its Importance in U.S.-China Relations
  Voice of America in Asia interviewed CIPE's Executive Director, John D. Sullivan and Professor of Sociology at University of California, Berkeley, Tom Gold. The interview was translated and broadcast in Mandarin on July 28, 2001.
  Listen to the interview in Chinese | English

• Women: The Emerging Economic Force
  June 14-16 2000 in Washington, DC, CIPE held its second successful international conference in support of women's business associations. It was attended by 174 participants from 46 countries.
  
  
• Africa and America: A Gateway for Women in Business
  Over 100 successful women entrepreneurs from fifteen African countries met with American corporations and entrepreneurs in Chicago to build business linkages in September 2000. The international conference, organized by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), The Eastman Kodak Company, and The Africa-America Institute gathered support from a dozen US corporations.
  
  
• Kickoff Conference for CIPE's Women's Program September 1997
  Women entrepreneurs are an important and growing force within transitional economies and democracies, yet their full participation in the business and public policy arenas are often hindered by lack of representation, legal barriers, and traditional gender roles. Effective women's business organizations can help women entrepreneurs begin to overcome these obstacles, thereby strengthening the commitment of new democracies to equal participation in business and public policy.
  To help women's business organizations fulfill this role, CIPE convened an international conference to focus attention on the role and importance of women's business associations and organizations. Held at the US Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Washington, the conference drew 120 women from 54 different countries to the three-day event. The conference was co-sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy, IBM, Coca-Cola, Ernst & Young, Capitol Health Partners, the Egyptian Social Fund for Development, and the United States Information Agency. Keynote speeches were given by Jehan Sadat, Former First Lady of Egypt; Susan Davis, CIPE Women's Advisory Committee Chair; Joseph Duffey, Director of the United States Information Agency and Thomas J. Donohue, President of the US Chamber of Commerce.
  
  The conference book from Organizing for Success: Strengthening Women's Business Organizations in now half price in the CIPE Bookstore