Saeed Haider

Saudi Gazette

 

DAMMAM — Saudi Arabia has a great interest in the application of transparency and integrity standards, according to Fahad Al Turki, member, Board of Governors at Pearl Initiative in the Gulf region, who spoke at a workshop organized  by Asharqia Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Pearl Initiative, a non-profit organization working for the private sector and was founded inside the Arabian Gulf five years ago to encourage business leaders to apply high standards of integrity. 



During the workshop, several participants talked about the real link between the integrity of businesses and creating values, and why the integrity in business is vital for the growth of the economy.



About the level of disclosure reached by companies and institutions in the Saudi Arabia, Al Turki stressed that the foundations of disclosure and transparency are considered excellent and advanced, but did not live up yet to the level of existing multinational group.



The field is still open for development to reach the global levels, and about the current legislations in the Kingdom, Al-Turki explained that it’s good enough for the Saudi companies to reach full transparency.



He commented on the community’s culture around the concept of disclosure and transparency, explaining that there is a remarkable development over the past decade, especially with the entry of the second and third generations in the family businesses, where new generations absorbed urgent need for this.



“We have witnessed the collapse of many of the major family businesses due to lack of the principle of transparency and governance,” he said



Al Turki confirmed that the Kingdom is classified among the world’s advanced countries as well as other Arab Gulf countries, and also stressed that the Kingdom has become one of the leading places in governance, disclosure and transparency. 



He said the onus of transparency in family business now lies with the second and third generations of the family. It is they who have to lay foundation of governance and transparency in a cohesive manner.



Pearl Initiative is a partnership between private sector companies in the Gulf with the United Nations Office for Partnerships based at the American University in Sharjah, which aims at improving transparency, governance and continuity of private sector companies in the region.