Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 10, 2012
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is helping train family-owned businesses in Bangladesh to improve corporate governance practices to increase their competitiveness and prospects for long-term success.
Family businesses in Bangladesh, like elsewhere in the world, are the oldest and the most dominant form of business organization. While there are many positives – a strong sense of commitment being one – this form of business also comes with the challenge of preparing the subsequent generation to handle the demands of a growing business.
To address this challenge, IFC, in partnership with the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, is bringing together prominent first-generation business founders and second/third generation successors at a conference on better corporate governance for family businesses. International experts, policy makers and leading Bangladeshi and Indian business owners and executives will discuss their experiences, and the opportunities and challenges of introducing stronger corporate governance practices.
“We believe that setting the right systems, structures and procedures at CEAT Tyres has led to its robust growth and global success,” said Anant Goenka, Deputy Managing Director of CEAT Tyres, India. “Even as members of the controlling family we need to follow these norms, systems, processes and organizational culture. This is all part of good corporate governance practices, which are crucial if our economy is to grow and capital markets are to be stable.”
Strong corporate governance helps protect minority shareholders, improves performance, ensures that companies use their resources more efficiently, and increases access to capital, all needed for sustained long-term economic growth.
“IFC's global experience has shown that family businesses worldwide can be more sustainable by introducing good corporate governance practices,” said Jeeva A. Perumalpillai-Essex, who heads IFCs Sustainable Business Advisory for South Asia. “This conference creates favorable conditions for dialogue, and helps promote improved corporate governance in Bangladeshi family businesses.”
IFC’s recently launched Bangladesh Corporate Governance Project engages with regulators to improve corporate governance codes. The project aims to raise awareness, and to train intermediaries, investors and companies on improving corporate governance practices. The project also aims to build capacity with local institutes and media, and create curricula for universities to reach out to the next generation of senior executives and directors.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, we helped our clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities—all while driving our investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
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