Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, 16-17 March 2010

The regional workshop on “Strengthening Integrity in the Private Sector in Arab Countries” was held in Manama, the Kingdom of Bahrain, on 16-17 March 2010.

The workshop was hosted by the MENA Centre for Investment under the patronage of the Bahrain Economic Development Board. It has been supported through a collaborative effort between the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) MENA Investment Programme and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The workshop provided to key public and private stakeholders from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia with an interactive forum to examine integrity challenges in the private sector and means to address those challenges in line with international anti-corruption instruments and best practices. The outcomes of the workshop are expected to contribute to enhanced regional cooperation on private sector integrity, benefiting the participating countries’ strive towards stronger fairer and cleaner economies and complementing efforts of existing regional networks namely the Arab Anti-Corruption & Integrity Network (ACINET) and the MENA Responsible Business Conduct Forum.

 

Meeting documentation

 

Draft agenda

List of Participants

Conclusions

 

Meeting presentations

 

Session 1: Promoting Regulatory Reforms and Cooperation between the Government and the Business Community
Ms. Nicola EHLERMANN-CACHE, Senior Policy Analyst, MENA-OECD Investment Programme, OECD.

 

Session 1A: The new regulatory environment
Fighting Bribery & Corruption Examples from regulatory environment in Egypt
Mr. Ahmed RAGAB, Executive Director, UNDP Center for Transparency & Anti-Corruption, Advisor to the Office of the Minister of Investment, Egypt.

 

Session 1B: Means for governments to strengthen integrity in private sector
Means for governments to strengthen integrity in private sector
Mr. Atle ROALDSØY, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Justice, Norway.

 

Session 2: The Role of the Private Sector in Strengthening Integrity Within Business
The role of the Private Sector in Strengthening Integrity
Mr Jermyn BROOKS, Private Sector Programmes, Transparency International

 

Session 2A: Codes of conduct and compliance programmes
Compliance Program@Siemens
Mr. Nadeem ANWER, Regional Compliance Officer, Siemens LLC