The Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance, together with the Swedish Embassy and the IFC Global Corporate Governance Forum, delivered a one-day training workshop on corporate governance reporting for Lithuanian and Latvian business journalists.
The focus of the event was to explain corporate governance and the critical role media plays in reporting on it. By conveying and exposing what constitutes good and bad corporate governance practices, media coverage can encourage companies to improve their performance. This in turn would help them operate more efficiently, improve access to capital, mitigate risk and safeguard against mismanagement. Sound corporate governance practices make companies more accountable and transparent to investors.
Aistė Almanaitė, President of the Lithuanian Business Journalist Association, said: “This program supports the region’s business journalists to become more acute on investigating and writing stories on corporate Governance. The sharp insights and comments of the speakers will help us in the daily work. Consequently, I hope, the quality of Baltic media will be higher: for readers it will be more interesting to follow the news, and for businesses, there will be more incentive to operate in a transparent manner.”
The outcome of this workshop constitutes a small, but significant step towards improving the corporate governance culture in the Baltics as increased media attention will be given to the inner structure of companies, leading to greater accountability and improved performance.
“Media plays an important role in shaping the public image of companies. Quality reporting by the media and good governance practices by companies is a matter of national interest to the economy, and not just within the media industry and corporate sector,” said Philip Armstrong, Head of the IFC Global Corporate Governance Forum.
A number of high-level local and international speakers participated in the event, including Philip Armstrong, Mads Brandstrup, Political Editor, Borsen (Denmark), Arminta Saladžienė, VP, Head of Baltic Markets, NASDAQ OMX, Kristian Kaas Mortensen, President, Baltic Instititute of Corporate Governance, and Liudas Jurkonis, Leader of Fraud investigation and dispute services for the Baltic region, EY and member of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
About the Institute:
Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance is an internationally recognized driver of best practice corporate governance development in the Baltic region. We deliver value to our stakeholders by promoting global competitiveness of Baltic companies through adoption of leading corporate governance practices. The Institute is a regional affiliate of the IFC Global Corporate Governance Forum.
About IFC:
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our investments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
Contacts:
President, Kristian Kaas Mortensen
Association “Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance”
Jogailos st. 4, LT-01116 Vilnius, Lithuania
Phone: +370 6111 33 44
Email: km@corporategovernance.lt
