|
Developed by the OECD Working Group on Privatisation and Corporate Governance of State-Owned Assets, the draft Implementation Guide to Ensure Accountability and Transparency in State Ownership was made available for public comment through an online consultation between 15 February and 3 March 2008. Comments received are being considered by the Working Group and will be posted on the website in the near future. The Guide was also discussed at the first meeting of the Global Network on Privatisation and Corporate Governance of State-Owned Assets on 5 March 2008 which brought together participants representing ownership agencies, policy-makers, regulators and experts from 45 countries and international organisations.
The Implementation Guide to Ensure Accountability and Transparency in State Ownership aims to help governments improve the corporate governance of state-owned enterprises in the area of accountability and transparency. Drawing on good practices from the OECD, the draft Guide provides practical recommendations and policy options to implement the OECD Guidelines on the corporate governance of state-owned enterprises in five main areas, i.e. how to set objectives; to review, audit and report on performance; and to ensure adequate disclosure and transparency at the SOE level.
Governments can make use of the Implementation Guide to Ensure Accountability and Transparency in State Ownership in reviewing their own practices and in implementing reforms. The Guide could also be used as a reference for policy dialogue at regional level, by international organisations to inform their technical assistance and capacity building programmes, by donors as they assist developing country partners in improving the effectiveness of the public sector, and business, labour and other non-governmental organisations in their dialogue with governments. Following completion, the OECD, working with the World Bank, the Global Corporate Governance Forum, and other international organisations, will assist governments and interested parties in using the Guide.
While the Implementation Guide to Ensure Accountability and Transparency in State Ownership is addressed to governments, it is to be seen in the broader context of other converging international initiatives to improve corporate governance frameworks and practices, including the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance.
The Guide will be finalised in April 2008 and used in policy dialogue with non-OECD countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle-East and North Africa and Latin America in the coming years. It will also be used by other international organisations and donors as a reference for their technical assistance programmes.
|
