Announcement of Working Together Towards a Consistent Approach on Corporate Governance International Financial Institutions Forum Press Briefing on June 14, 2004

Working Together Towards a Consistent Approach on Corporate Governance International Financial Institutions Forum Press Briefing: 9:00-9:30 AM Wednesday, June 16, 2004 Paris, World Bank 66 avenue d’Iéna, 75116 Paris, France Washington DC, June 14, 2004.— The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is hosting a conference in Paris, on Wednesday June 16, 2004 , that will gather top International Financial Institutions to discuss ways to improve corporate governance in the companies they finance and support in emerging markets. During this one-day conference, IFC will share its “IFC Corporate Governance Methodology”, which is used in appraising the corporate governance of investee companies. The IFC CG Methodology is based on the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and incorporates lessons IFC has learned from its investments in over 80 countries. The other participating institutions will also introduce their respective approaches to assessing the governance of their clients and together they will explore how to collaborate to improve the quality and consistency of their methodologies. The conference, Working Together Towards a Consistent Approach on Corporate Governance, is a recognition of the increasing need of international agencies to accurately evaluate corporate governance of companies and to help them improve their corporate governance structures and practices. Improved management, increased access to all types of external finance, and higher market valuations are some of the benefits of better corporate governance. The event will start with a Press Conference open to the media to discuss the objective of the event, and the challenges of corporate governance in emerging markets. Journalists will have access to the morning sessions of the conference. IFC is a recognized leader in Corporate Governance. IFC has been collaborating with the OECD in organizing different Corporate Governance Roundtables and in cosponsoring the Latin American one. Corporate Governance is one of the pillars of IFC’s focus on sustainability, together with environmental and social sustainability. IFC ( www.ifc.org ) promotes sustainable private sector development in developing countries through financing, technical assistance and advisory services. The participating Institutions in this first conference, include:  ADB: Asian Development Bank  COFIDES: Spain's Agency for the Financing of Development  EBRD: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development  EIB: European Investment Bank  FMO: Dutch Development Bank  IADB: Inter-American Development Bank  IFU: Industrialization Fund for Developing Countries (Denmark)  IoD: Institute of Directors (UK)  JBIC: Japan Bank for International Cooperation  NORFUND: Norwegian Investment Find for Developing Countries  OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development For more information, and to confirm attendance to the press conference, please contact : Giorgio Ambrosetti, IFC in Paris: Gambrosetti@ifc.org Tel: (33-1) 5780 3364 Adriana Gomez, IFC in Washington: Agomez@ifc.org Tel: (202) IBRD IDA IFC MIGA ICSID