The board of governors’ meeting of the Pearl Initiative, the leading Gulf business-led not-for-profit organisation fostering a corporate culture of accountability and transparency, has highlighted its achievements over the last five years.  Hosted in Doha by Sheikha Hanadi bint Nasser al-Thani, founder and chairperson of Amwal and member of the Pearl Initiative board of governors, the meeting also chalked out plans for 2016 and forecast its growth and impact until 2020.
Other board members that attended the meeting included Hamid Jafar, chairman of Crescent Group and chairman of Pearl Initiative’s board of governors; Arif Naqvi, founder and group chief executive of The Abraaj Group; Hani Ashkar, Middle East senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers; Jamal Fakhro, managing partner, KPMG Bahrain and Qatar; Samer Khoury, president of Consolidated Contractors Company; Varouj Nerguizian, Bank of Sharjah CEO; and Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises and founder of Pearl Initiative.
Highlighting Pearl Initiative’s accomplishments, Sheikha Hanadi said: “Pearl Initiative has made major strides since its establishment in 2010. By convening business leaders from across the Gulf region to share their experiences, Pearl Initiative has created a strong business case for raising corporate governance standards.
“We have also successfully provided a vehicle for the private sector to lead by example and ensure that accountability and transparency are accorded top priority on the business agenda in the Gulf region.”
In 2016, the Pearl Initiative will expand the scope of its existing programmes with initiatives such as a collective action programme on “Implementing Integrity Practices in GCC Private and Public Businesses” in collaboration with the Siemens Integrity Initiative.
In addition, the Pearl Initiative will continue its corporate governance programme with a special focus on the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and start-up sector. The organisation is also set to launch a GCC-wide case study report that will build on the diversity in business leadership programme.