Port of Rades, Tunisia.
Photo: © Dana Smillie / World Bank
The purpose of the joint World Bank -Arab Monetary Fund virtual workshop was to present and discuss the Middle East and North of Africa (MENA) State Owned Enterprises (SOE) Compact – a recent initiative by the World Bank to encourage SOE reforms based on peer-to-peer learning, international good practices, and a shared framework of commitments – and to learn from cutting-edge SOE reform experiences from the region.
100+ participants attended the workshop, and it was one of the regional events toward the “Road to Marrakech,” the World Bank’s Annual Meetings.
State Owned Enterprises Reforms in the Arab Region
Creating a regional framework to identify and encourage SOE reforms
Virtual Workshop
Date: Monday, 2 October 2023
Time: 15:00 to 18:15 Abu Dhabi time
Time | Sessions |
15:00 – 15:15 am AUH time | Session 1: Welcome Remarks – Setting the Scene • Dr. Maher Sheikh Hasan, Counsellor, Chief Economist, the Arab Monetary Fund • Mr. Jens Kristensen, Practice Manager, Governance Global Practice, Middle East and North Africa |
15:15 - 16:15 am AUH time | Session 2: The Compact for SOE Reforms: Scope, Commitments, and Implementation Mechanisms The objective of the session is to introduce the World Bank-led Compact of SOE Reforms in the region and discuss its proposed scope, commitments, and implementation mechanism. The session will familiarize participants with the commitments under the Compact and will highlight the SOE reform experience of the first two Compact adopters. Presentation and Moderator: • Mr. Peter Ladegaard, Senior Public Sector Specialist, the World Bank Panelists: • Mr. Abdellatif Zaghnoun, Director General of the National Agency for State Participations and Performance Monitoring of SOEs (ANGSPE) • Mrs. Saredo Ahmed Omar, Director of Public Enterprises Oversight, the Executive Secretariat in charge of the State Ownership (SEPE), Ministry of Economy and Finance, Djibouti Discussion: • All participants invited to contribute |
16:15- 17:15 am AUH time | Session 3: Highlights of recent SOE reforms in the Arab Region The objective of the session is to share and discuss recent examples of noteworthy SOE reforms in the Arab region.Introduction and moderator: • Mr. Mohamed El-Shiaty, Senior Private Sector Specialist, the World Bank Presentations: • Introducing Egypt’s State Ownership Policy: A presentation by Dr. Osama El-Gohary, Chairman of the Information and Decision Support Center, Prime Minister Office, Egypt • Introducing Oman’s centralized SOE ownership agency. A presentation by Mr. Ayad Al Balushi, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Assistant Deputy President -Finance & Assurance, Oman Investment Authority, Oman Discussion • All participants invited to contribute |
17:15 – 18:00 AUH time | Session 4: Good performing SOEs and the climate agenda The objective of the session is to showcase an example of a successful SOE in the Arab region, and discuss the role that SOEs can play in the climate agenda Moderator: • Dr. Jaleleddine Rejeb, Director, Economic Department, the Arab Monetary Fund Panelists: • Mr. Karim El Aynaoui, Head of the Policy Center for the New South • Ms. Karin Ireton, Sustainability and ESG Consultant Discussion: • All participants invited to contribute. |
18:00– 18:15 AUH time | Concluding Remarks The session will seek to draw overall conclusions and possible next steps for continued discussion of the SOE reforms in general, and the Compact for SOE reforms in specific. • All participants invited to contribute • Dr. Nadir Mohammed, Regional Director for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, Middle East and North Africa region, the World Bank |
Last Updated: Oct 17, 2023
Highlights
- CONTACT: Peter Ladegaard
- pladegaard@worldbank.org