Armenian Institute of Directors signs a Framework Cooperation Agreement with IFC to promote good corporate governance

ArmInfo. The Armenian Institute of Directors (AIOD), a non-governmental organization, has signed a Framework Cooperation Agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Within the framework of the agreement, AIOD and IFC have agreed to cooperate in promoting good corporate governance (CG) practices in the Europe and Central Asia region to help companies improve their performance, sustainability, and access to finance.

The program has four overall objectives: Raise public awareness of CG issues for small and medium enterprises/family-owned companies through a public awareness intervention and CG-related publications; Assist in the development of a CG framework (laws, codes, regulations and other instruments to support good CG practices); Support the building and development of local institutional capacity to promote and implement good corporate governance practices and Assist companies in implementing good CG practices, leading to improved performance (reduced capital cost, higher valuations, improve loan terms) and efficiency (improved operations, clearer structures, better defined roles, etc.).

The capacity building activity is to be achieved primarily by working through local institutions, helping such institutions provide CG services and promote CG principles in the market, based on IFC's corporate governance methodology and capacity building tools.

The work in Armenia would be conducted as part of the partners’ capacity-building objective of IFC. It is very important for AIOD to receive such recognition from IFC, and AIOD will implement the necessary measures and steps to boost economic development in Armenia.

AIOD (www.iod.am) was established in April 2015 through the efforts of the Corporate Governance Center and aims to improve the level of corporate governance in the country by training board members of Armenian companies and promoting good governance. IFC provided advice and its vast expertise in corporate governance during the AIOD setup process. The establishment of AIOD was driven by the need to form a professional society of directors (Member of the Board of Directors, Executive Board Member, Corporate Secretary), strengthening their role, as well as continuously improving their skills and experience.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. The IFC Corporate Governance Program in Europe and Central Asia aims to develop the capacity of local institutions to deliver services and help companies and financial institutions improve corporate governance standards, leading to improved performance, sustainability, and ability to access finance.

The program is funded by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). For more information about IFC, please visit www.ifc.org For more information about SECO, please visit: www.seco-cooperation.admin.ch