24-25 May 2010, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) play an important role in economies around the world, with major impact on public finances, economic growth, and the competitiveness of the business sector.

 

To keep the dialogue focused and to produce tangible outcomes, the Asian Network on Corporate Governance of SOEs has progressively developed a Regional Policy Brief, providing a set of recommendations and priorities for policy reform in order to improve the corporate governance of SOEs in the economies of Asia.

 

The 5th meeting of the Network focused on progress with implementing the recommendations identified in the Policy Brief, drawing on the priority areas for reform announced by several Network members at last year’s meeting in Bangkok. Sessions focusing on the country experiences of Malaysia and Korea allowed for a more in-depth evaluation.

 

Participants also discussed SOE-related issues of current relevance to the Asian region.

 

Left to right: Mr Pekka Timonen (Chair, OECD Working Party on State Ownership & Privatisation Practices); Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali (Chairman, Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group, Malaysia); Senator Tan Sri Amirsham A.Aziz (Chairman, National Economic Advisory Council, Malaysia); Mr John Lim (Chair, OECD Asia Network on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises).

 

Documentation

• Draft agenda
• Policy Brief on Corporate Governance of SOEs in Asia

 

Presentations

 

Session One: SOE governance reform in Asia: esperiences and prospects

• Bursa Malaysia's approach to Corporate Governance - Sevarany Rasiah
• The ongoing process of SOE reform in Malaysia - Hashim Mohammed, Telekom Malaysia Berhad
• Developing Training Programmes for SOE Boards - Dato' Abdul Aziz Abu Bakar, Malaysian Directors Academy

 

Session Two: SOEs with non-commercial objectives

• SOEs with non-commercial objectives - Dr U.D.Choubey, SCOPE, India
• SOEs with non-commercial objectives: Practices in Indonesia - Antonius Alijoyo, FCGI, Indonesia
• How to ensure effective management and performance of SOEs with non-commercial objectives          - Zhengjun Zhang, DRC, China

 

Session Three: Progress in SOE Governance Reforms in Asia

•  Governance reforms in Asia - Khazanah's experience - Dato' Mohammad Zainal Shaari, Malaysia
•  Reform and Corporate Governance of SOEs in China - Yongfa Qin, SASAC, China
•  Druk Holding and Investments: Progress on implementing reform priorities - Karma Yonten, Bhutan
•  Monitoring the implementation of the Policy Brief on Corporate Governance of SOEs in Asia: Updates from the Philippines - Jeremias Paul, Philippines

 

Session Four: Announcement or revision of reform priorities by individual members of the Network

•  Corporate Governance for Bangladesh State-owned Enterprises: Towards best practices  -A.B.M. Khorshed Alam, Bangladesh (Due to his unavailability, Mr Alam's presentation was delivered by Mr A.K.M Delwer Hussain and Mr Farooq Sobhan.)

 

Session Five: The ongoing reform process in Korea

• Recent reform on public institutions in Korea - Seung-Chul Lee, Ministry of Strategy & Finance
• Business performance evaluation systems for public institutions - Jung-Jae Lyou, Ministry of Strategy & Finance

 

Session Six: Ensuring a level playing field betweem SOEs and private companies

• The level playing field  - David Robinett, World Bank
• A level playing field between SOEs and private enterprise - Fuad Azim Hashimi, Pakistan
• Equal opportunities between SOEs and private companies - Ratna Januarita, Indonesia (also includes a background paper).

 

Further reading

• OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises
• OECD Principles of Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises: A Survey of OECD Countries