Good governance has been identified as a key success factor for economic growth and societal well-being. A number of high impact areas are presented below, where good governance can play a determinant role.

Sustainable and Responsible Investing (SRI) — SRI is a global and alternative movement that is structuring and gaining momentum. For example, the level of endorsement of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) has witnessed an astonishing uptake, now gathering over 500 signatories from 36 countries and more spectacularly, a total of asset under management of US$18 trillions. Connecting to the UNPRI signatories network and eventually, accessing related foreign direct investment (FDI) opportunities is a milestone that Cambodia is yet to set on its development agenda. For such milestone to be reached, important mechanisms need to be implemented at the level of the Cambodian Investment value chain such as: good governance (as described in the UN PRI's) per se, and a holistic attention on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance of investees. Potentially, the amount of (annual) FDI that Cambodia could attract under the SRI label is estimated as a 9-figure number: US$100Million or over. We believe that experience-sharing and knowledge-sharing among ESG-minded leaders can accelerate the uptake of SRI in Cambodia.

Reducing donor dependence — Over the last few years, an alternative form of organisation has emerged, that distinguishes from the totally donor-dependent revenue model (aka non-profit organisations) and from profit-driven SME's and corporations. These organisations lie in an intermediate position on the profit-distribution and donor-dependency spectrum, and are commonly referred to as social enterprises. Helping non-profit organisations transit from a totally-dependent to a partial/total sustainability is an effort that can be accompanied by the private sector; and especially by the portion of corporations already actively engaged in CSR (corporate social responsibility) programs and in good governance advocacy, such as the CBI (Clean Business Initiative) network.

Structuring sectorial governance — Diffusing general purpose governance codes and practices is a starting point. Adapting these to the real-world contingencies of each specific sector and value chain appears as a natural next step. Examples of sectors in demand for good governance include: healthcare, tourism, agriculture, construction, finance/banking/credit, e-commerce, to name a few. There too, we believe that the diffusion of good practices could be accelerated if approached by sector-specific focus groups. A network such as CBI endorsees could play the important role of mentor and help facilitate such sectorial focus groups.

These three areas are examples of how an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) focus could contribute to “value-driven value creation” for the Cambodian economy and society. These are also seeding suggestions for discussions to be held during the roundtable and workshop sessions of the ESG Synergies 2009 conference.