The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Davos

A group of prominent World Economic Forum business leaders Thursday issued a call to their peers to join collaborative efforts to strengthen public governance frameworks and institutions as a core element of their approach to corporate citizenship.

Fourteen global CEOs and chairmen, representing a range of industries and regions, signed a leadership statement calling on businesses to engage in public-private partnerships to strengthen public policies and institutional capacity at the national, regional and global levels, as part of the Forum's Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative in partnership with lead partner Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), as well as Accountability, Harvard's Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative and the International Business Leaders Forum.

Signatories of the leadership statement include the Chairman/CEOs of Ayala Corporation; Diageo; Merck & Co.; Microsoft Corporation;

Pakistan State Oil Company (PSO); Tata Industries; The Coca-Cola Company; and the big four accounting firms - Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The outcome of the project, entitled Partnering to Strengthen Public Governance - The Leadership Challenge for CEOs and Boards, is a CEO-signed leadership statement and supporting report, which provide a roadmap for business leaders seeking to work with governments and other stakeholders to improve the enabling environment for sustainable economic growth and development.

In launching this effort, the signatories call for a new frontier in corporate global citizenship and a new era in public-private partnership, recognizing the increasing convergence of public and private sector agendas. "Public governance is a global issue. No longer can businesses, governments, or non-governmental organizations afford to act independently of each other - the stakes are just too high," said John Connolly, Chairman of the Global Board at Deloitte. "Only through a combined effort can we achieve economic growth, sustainability, and create an opportunity for a better life for people everywhere."

"Over the past 18 months," said Richard Samans, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum, "this project has attempted to improve understanding of the business case for improved public governance and provide concrete guidance on how businesses can engage in public-private efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of such frameworks and institutions."

"We hope that by stating so clearly that business has a role to play in partnering to promote effective public governance, these leaders will open new partnership channels on critical social, environmental and economic questions," said Aron Cramer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), USA.

The paper acknowledges the essential role that partnership plays in advancing the global agenda, and the essential need for business to take on this agenda based both on its capacity and legitimacy. Business engagement in promoting effective governance is most effective, and most credible, where it reflects key principles including transparency, dialogue and respect for the unique role of public institutions, and recognizes the central value of working with civil society organizations.

"Weak public governance harms both a country's people and its environment," said E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Coca-Cola Company, and Chairman of the International Business Leaders Forum.

He continued: "As this report highlights, business has opportunity and motive to change that by contributing to building better governance systems and public institutions… which are fundamental to sustainable social and economic development and therefore sustainable communities and business success."

"Strengthening public governance is an ongoing challenge for us all. Moreover, creating and sustaining the will to reform is a critical ingredient of successful public sector reform," commented Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), regarding the work stream.

"As experience has shown, if there's a willingness for the public and private sectors to work together, positive results will occur," said Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ayala Corporation.

The World Economic Forum, signatory companies and the World Economic Forum's Partner companies will be exploring forward action to advance this agenda, sharing learning and looking for opportunities to translate the leadership statement into action.

The signatories of this statement are: Kishor A. Chaukar, Managing Director, Tata Industries, Tata Enterprises; Richard T. Clark, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Merck & Co.; John P. Connolly, Chairman of the Global Board, Deloitte; Samuel A. DiPiazza Jr, Global Chief Executive Officer, PricewaterhouseCoopers; William H. Gates III, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation; E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company;

Alexander V. Izosimov, Chief Executive Officer, VimpelCom; Lubna S.

Olayan, Chief Executive Officer, Olayan Financing Company; Mark G. Parker, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nike; Jalees Ahmed Siddiqi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Pakistan State Oil Company (PSO); James S. Turley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ernst & Young; Paul S. Walsh, Group Chief Executive, Diageo; Michael Wareing, International Chief Executive Officer, KPMG; Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ayala Corporation; The member companies of the GCCI Advisory Committee.