Saudi Aramco And The Pearl Initiative Partner To Promote Corporate Governance In The Gulf Region

World markets are rapidly evolving, and the Gulf Region’s Private Sector has an increasingly global impact on this evolution. At the same time, global expectations of corporate governance standards have been rising, which in turn is having an impact on how companies in the Gulf Region conduct business and plan for the future. This means that it is now essential to drive growth through competitive and sustainable business practices. 92% of CEOs surveyed by the Pearl Initiative recently believe that working towards sustainable development goals will have a positive impact on their business, and 89% say that it can create concrete business opportunities.

To this end, Saudi Aramco and the Pearl Initiative, the leading Gulf-based non-profit organization promoting a corporate culture of accountability as a key driver of competitiveness across the region, have announced their strategic partnership. These new partners share a deep commitment to promoting corporate governance within the Gulf Region’s business landscape.

As a part of the partnership, Saudi Aramco and the Pearl Initiative will host a high-level forum, Governance in Focus: Boosting Competitiveness in a New Business Paradigm, held under the patronage of His Excellency Khalid A. Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia. More than 300 global business leaders, ministers, senior government officials and members of corporate and civil society are expected to attend the forum, which will be held on Wednesday, 25 April 2018, at the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Riyadh.

The Governance in Focus forum will bring together renowned business and government thought leaders to discuss the important role that corporate governance plays in enhancing business resilience and attracting investment, particularly in the context of technological disruption and shifting geo-economic landscapes.

Opening speakers at the forum include H.E. Khalid A. Al-Falih Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia; Amin Al-Nasser, President and Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Aramco; Kristalina Georgieva, Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank Group and Badr Jafar, Chief Executive Officer of Crescent Enterprises and Founder of the Pearl Initiative.