‘Good governance a must’

KARACHI: Pakistan’s economy is mainly driven by family-owned businesses and therefore good governance amongst these is extremely essential to maintain their smooth operations, which would consequently lead to a healthy economy, said chartered accountant at Sheikha and Mufti, Jawwad Sheikha.

He was addressing a workshop titled “Sustainability and wealth creation through corporate governance in family-owned companies”, organised jointly by the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) on Thursday.

Sheikha said that family-owned companies are the backbone of the economy as 90 per cent of the major entities operating in Pakistan are like that. However, these companies are traditionally either unaware of the general principles of good corporate governance or work in a relatively less transparent and documented environment.

He stated that complicated paternal, maternal and marital relationships often create conflicts in relationships which then influence the running of the business. He pointed out that good governance in personal businesses can lead to better management, stronger sustainability and increase in shareholders wealth.

Senior Programme Manager of CIPE Hammad Siddiqui said that businessmen ‘should move away from drawing room discussions and strive to implement good governance. He said that willingness on the part of a personal business owner is the key to success.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2010.