Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance, concluded its 15th annual conference today (Tuesday, November 15, 2022), under the theme ‘Building Investor Confidence through Governance’, which took place at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Dubai, UAE and virtually.
Over 300 participants and attendees joined from MENA region, US, UK, Singapore, Brazil, South Africa, Finland, Germany, Malaysia, and France to discuss the significance of investment in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) to gain investors’ confidence, and achieve sustainable long-term growth in the context of its impact on the MENA region. The conference highlighted the importance of ESG in the post-pandemic world and in light of the region’s opening up to foreign investors.
H.E. Dr. Ahmad Bin Hassan Al Shaikh, Chairman of the Hawkamah Board, stated in his opening address that the UAE government is very much committed to sustainability and good governance and has taken many steps to encourage companies and government institutions to be sustainable. Boards and organisations, he added, need to proactively embark on their ESG journey by incorporating sustainability into their medium and long-term strategy, as well as their everyday operations.
The proceedings of the conference are accessible on Hawkamah’s website. It captures the in- depth discussions that took place on during the conference, today, which include, addressing risks of greenwashing by both companies and investors in their sustainability disclosures, the view of panellists on fragmentation of sustainability reporting, ESG regulations trends around the world, investors engagement and expectations from boards of directors, and finally examples of how organizations are responding to the ESG increasing requirements.
Dr. Ashraf Gamal El Din, CEO of Hawkamah, praised the regional organisations that are implementing ESG improvement strategies and successfully delivering on them, as it is apparent through Hawkamah’s cooperation and projects with these regional sustainable champions. These organisations are also providing meaningful reports of their activities, beyond merely meeting compliance requirements or PR activities, which is to be celebrated.
A graduation ceremony was also organised during the conference for individuals who have successfully completed the Director Development and the Company Secretary certification Programs. The conference was sponsored by Dubai Chamber, DiliTrust, Tonic, Dubai Investments, and Aramex. The media partners of the conference were Dubai Media Incorporated and, in addition to Al Bayan Economic Magazine.
Hawkamah, a world-class corporate governance institute, focuses on improving corporate governance practices of governments and companies across the MENA region. It assists in establishing sound organisations, reforming the corporate sector, assisting the banking and financial sector, and promoting good governance. The Institute enables companies to develop sound and globally recognised corporate governance frameworks.
