Good Management Practices for State-owned Enterprises is to be the subject of an upcoming seminar

(La Paz, August 18, 2011). With a view to contributing to the efficient and transparent administration of state-owned enterprises, CAF –Latin American development bank- is organizing, together with the Ministry of Development Planning (MPD), the International Seminar on Good Management Practices for State-owned Enterprises (SOEs).

The seminar is to be held on August 19 at CAF’s premises with the participation of managers and board members of public enterprises –including strategic and mixed enterprises- as well as ministers representing ownership of the SOEs on behalf of the State, representatives of regulatory agencies, and persons responsible for public policy.

Emilio Uquillas, CAF’s director in Bolivia, commented that, in countries such as Bolivia where there have been nationalizations and where new laws have been passed that define and regulate the system governing public enterprises, it is desirable to learn about international experiences in the area of good management practices because they make for a more efficient administration of state assets and, consequently, for a better performance by these institutions.

During the seminar, the Minister of Development Planning, Viviana Caro, will discuss the plurinational State’s vision of management in public enterprises, whereas the experts Carla Meza, an executive of Colombia’s Empresa Pública de Medellín (EPM), and Mario Gonzales, the executive director of Peru’s National Fund for Financing Activities of State- owned Enterprises (FONAFE), will talk about specific cases of good management practices implemented at state-owned enterprises in their countries and reforms to the regulatory frameworks aimed at the proper functioning of those enterprises.

In addition, CAF’s Director of Public Policies and Competitiveness, Michael Penfold, will present the guidelines recommended by CAF for the good governance of public enterprises and also some success stories in the region that have come about thanks to the program for implementing good corporate governance practices financed by CAF.

As CAF sees it, being able to count on good management practices in state-owned enterprises promotes the efficient production of goods and services with an optimum utilization of resources.