CIPE Regional Conference, Sofia, Bulgaria

"Business Views on Corporate Governance: Building New Structures in Emerging Markets"

"Corporate Governance Clinic" - From left to right: Darren Hartzler (IFC), Paul Marer (IMC Business School, Budapest), John Sullivan (CIPE)

SOFIA, Bulgaria, September 22-23, 2000 — Corporate governance has become a key element of the Transition in Central and Eastern Europe, impacting privatization, investment potential and numerous other closely related issues. The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) recently brought together market participants and leading reform experts in an effort to forge effective linkages which can implement the practical aspects of corporate governance directly.

Over 110 participants from 20 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia attended the conference, including representatives from the business community, local policy/government leaders and international experts on corporate governance. The numerous and varied insights and experiences highlighted CIPE's region-wide focus, and the need to engage corporate governance practitioners across the broad spectrum of Transition countries.

The conference served to craft a unique dynamic, in which the business community, market participants and think tanks worked together to forge their own approaches to corporate governance. This was complemented by a Corporate Governance Clinic which elaborated the "main pillars"—institutions of governance, corporate codes and institutional investors, and achieved a healthy exchange of ideas between participants and international experts. By focusing on building local demand for corporate governance, the conference brought together a tight network of regional practitioners, which forms the nucleus of the CIPE Regional Corporate Governance Initiative.

Left: Ognian Shentov, President, Center for the Study of Democracy

The two-day event was held in partnership with CIPE's local co-host, the Center for the Study of Democracy. 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, this forum was a successful kickoff to CIPE's Regional Corporate Governance Initiative.