Center for International Private Enterprise

Business advocacy, Enterprise ecosystems, & economic inclusion: institutions and policies that include planning for economic growth and inclusiveness are more likely to be implemented within a democratic environment. With this in mind, cipe works to empower the Private sector to actively participate in the democratic process through partnerships with local business associations, chambers of commerce, and think tanks. Many programs place a large emphasis on the inclusion of women, youth, and other marginalized groups. Business advocacy & Enterprise ecosystems:cipe is building on efforts to invigorate and diversify economies, while making them more resilient and reducing corruption. This includes an increasing focus on digital issues related to e-commerce and perspectives around tough topics impacting daily business and risk decisions for small and medium-sized enterprises (smes), including esg (environmental, social, and governance) matters. Programs with partners in the middle east and latin america provide key examples. War-stricken yemen faces numerous challenges ranging from humanitarian and political difficulties to economic and infrastructure woes. Cipe is among the International organizations supporting and partnering with Private sector groups attempting to fill gaps and provide goods and services, gather data, and offer solutions. This includes work with the yemeni economic reform team, a group of business leaders and experts that are proposing measures to stabilize the currency, reform the banking sector, and increase investment in infrastructure. Cipe also recently opened a "yemen hub" in amman, jordan to host dialogues among stakeholders. Among cipe's many other initiatives in the region: a new user's guide to the u.s.-bahrain free trade agreement written by cipe and consortium partners, including the u.s.bahrain business council and the american chamber of commerce. In latin america and the caribbean, the covid economy continues to widen the gap between the haves and have nots, spurring cipe and partners to launch an initiative addressing "the future of work" in the region. Cipe and four regional think tanks released a series of in-depth reports exploring current and severe technology challenges, as well as potential solutions for the public and Private sector to work on together. Argentina's cippec addresses the use of big data, artificial intelligence, and productivity aids. Guatemala's cien spotlights efforts to overcome employment and business registration restrictions. Colombia's fedesarrollo explains how digital platforms are both expediting and hindering tax payments. Mexico evalua explores how technology is being used in the justice system. Cipe's partners are combining their analyses and recommendations to create a regional policy reform roadmap for restarting latin american economies and sparking inclusive growth.economic inclusion, equity, and equality:efforts to ensure gender equality are growing areas of focus for governments and communities worldwide, and many are looking to cipe for leadership. Cipe's Center for women's economic empowerment (cwee) works to empower women in three ways: forming coalitions, building leadership and entrepreneurship skills, and networking. Among cipe's newest initiatives to support women's economic empowerment and combat gender-based violence and sexual harassment : the we-champs program with chambers of commerce and business associations in 18 countries across europe and eurasia, which is funded by the u.s. department of state's office of global women's issues (s/gwi). Cipe's corali women's business resource Center in guatemala launched in early 2022 and has already helped hundreds of local entrepreneurs learn new skills and launch their businesses. A similar Center in papua new guinea has provided services to more than 2000 women and cipe is working with donors and partners to open centers in ethiopia and azerbaijan. In addition to activities on the ground, cipe and partners generate a wealth of resources, guides, and training modules that are widely available.meanwhile, cipe continues to expand its programs to support youth civic engagement and help communities create entrepreneurship opportunities for younger populations. In many countries, education and employment options for younger generations appear more limited now due to the covid pandemic. Cipe incorporates creative outreach methods to help connect with younger generations and support their financial inclusion. Among the current initiatives: a central america regional youth entrepreneurship (care) program and numerous youth leadership programs in africa. The care project has included training in the creative industries sector, known as the orange economy" for youth in guatemala and el salvador. A project in ethiopia resulted in the creation of peace clubs, which raised money for school supplies and launched advocacy campaigns to improve accessibility for hawassa university students with disabilities. To share its work more broadly and inform new thinking, cipe holds an annual virtual youth leadership conference that features exhibits showcasing the work of many grantees. Meanwhile, lessons learned over the past four decades afford cipe a unique viewpoint on the "future of democracy", which is the theme of a new multi-media collaboration and website with the national democratic institute, and the International republican institute, which are fellow core institutes of the national endowment for democracy. The site includes speculative fiction and creative writing by well-known experts and colleagues. The aim is to get people thinking about democracy in new ways and demonstrate the positive role technology can play.

Democratic governance:new studies and econometrics prove the clear connection between strong democracies and strong markets. Democratic governance, in which citizens have a say in how decisions are made, is fundamental to ensuring that democracy delivers for all of society. Strong democratic governance is characterized by transparency and accountability in both the public and Private sectors. Cipe's programs employ a business lens to promote open and informed public decision-making and principled corporate governance, as well as business-led solutions and recommendations for addressing economic and societal challenges. Key activities include: creation of business agendas that clearly relay the priorities and needs of entrepreneurs to policymakers, as they relate to a business enabling environment and economic growth. Many partners collect hard data on key issues, generate reports, provide analyses and resources to assist peers, and develop public awareness campaigns to inform citizens. Most programs also include training, networking, and mentoring components to facilitate ongoing work. Initiatives with networks of local partners in ukraine, philippines, nigeria, colombia, and many other countries are helping to strengthen public-private dialogue between the Private sector and governments. Below are two examples: ukraine remains independent one year after the launch of devastating russian attacks, with the ukrainian Private sector providing support, services, and leadership that are vital to the war effort and reconstruction. Cipe's kyiv-based staff has managed to remain in ukraine since the early 2022 invasion, choosing to work alongside its network of more than 200 business associations and chambers of commerce. Although more than half of ukraine's small and medium-sized enterprises (smes) are destroyed or relocated, those remaining are determined to help defend and transform the country. They are lending expertise and resources for everything from humanitarian assistance to repairing military equipment and re-establishing interrupted supply chains. This includes setting up nine logistics hubs across the country that have delivered many tons of food, clothing, gasoline, medicine, and military supplies. In some cases, the hubs are fulfilling local government functions. Amid all this, cipe is facilitating high-level discussions around economic recovery and reconstruction efforts. A key aim is to ensure ukraine's Private sector has a lead role in the development of reforms and policy changes, with strong anti-corruption measures being a main focus. At a highly attended ukrainian business council forum in late 2022 supported by cipe, representatives explored a number of specific recommendations and potential business agenda items for addressing corruption and other key issues, including digitalization and tax reform. Their theme: not just to survive but develop." In the philippines, cipe continues working with a large network of partners to support economic opportunity and expand accountability. The philippine department of trade and industry has signed an mou with cipe to incorporate its new training course on harnessing the power of the digital economy into learning modules to be shared with the country's 50,000 small business owners. This is part of the country's new e-commerce roadmap, and cipe philippines will be a key implementer of another new digital economy program recently launched by the u.s. agency for International development (usaid). The initiative called speed, short for "strengthening Private Enterprise for the digital economy", is part of an $18 million project to boost e-commerce by smes over the next five years and builds on cipe's collaborations with local chambers of commerce and business associations. Cipe also worked with local partners to launch the country's first governance sogie diversity index (sogie is an acronym for sexual orientation, gender identity and expression). Cipe is working with some of the country's biggest business organizations to form the philippine e-commerce alliance to support other innovations and inform policy decisions. Among cipe's key partners in the region: makati business club, the philippine lgbt chamber of commerce, and connected women for digital entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, members of the cipe-supported free Enterprise and democracy network (fedn), comprised of former program partners and other experts, serve as advisors for transitions and provide technical assistance to reform initiatives around the world. Fedn 2022 efforts included a well-attended virtual conference to spotlight voices from emerging markets on their democracy priorities and showcase programs and approaches by cipe and other organizations that are yielding progress.

Trade facilitation, accountable investment, and anti-corruption: building the institutions of a market economy involves reducing barriers to doing business and promoting an entrepreneurial culture that provides opportunities for all citizens. Improving transparency and accountability in the public and Private sectors increases support for democratic rights and freedoms. Through its inclusive approach to entrepreneurship and policy engagement, cipe helps ensure that democracy and the market economy are accessible to all segments of society. Trade facilitation programs: (continued on schedule o)cipe is a leader within the global alliance for trade facilitation (gatf), along with the world economic forum and the International chamber of commerce. The alliance was launched in 2016 to help developing countries implement the world trade organization trade facilitation agreement and works to leverage Private sector expertise and leadership to accelerate ambitious and commercially meaningful trade policy reforms. The result is broad-based opportunity, economic growth, and development. In paraguay, e-commerce will get a boost and customers can get faster shipments from companies such as fedex and ups, due to regulatory reform efforts facilitated by cipe and the International executive service corps (iesc). Cipe and iesc organized public-private dialogues that led to the development of a modernization roadmap by working groups for paraguay's national trade facilitation committee. Other projects in colombia, zambia, and many other countries are changing relationships between global businesses and border agencies responsible for customs, health, and agriculture. In recognition for its work, the alliance was a finalist for the p3 impact award from the u.s. state department office of global partnerships, concordia, and the university of Virginia's darden school of business. Accountable investment:capital investments from authoritarian regimes are increasingly viewed as a risk to the sovereignty of needy recipient countries, mainly due to fears that the lenders will leverage the debt to exert undue political and economic influence. Cipe has initiatives in numerous countries to raise awareness about such "corrosive capital" situations, including expert advice on how countries can identify potentially bad deals and strengthen governance measures to protect their assets and thus their independence. In 2022 cipe launched its Center for accountable investment (cai) to help address these issues and embrace practices and policies that will help countries welcome "constructive capital" investments that support, rather than undermine, democratic institutions. New reports and analyses include an in-depth look at corrosive capital issues in some middle east countries, new reports out of ukraine, and an anthology of reports from latin america. This builds on work started in slovakia, latvia, croatia, bulgaria, romania, sierra leone, colombia, and many other countries. Cipe is also expanding its bri monitor initiative, which began in asia and the pacific. Cipe and partners have a growing body of case studies and a companion website to help gauge the impact of chinese lending in emerging economies. Cipe is holding events in many countries, including public and Private roundtables hosted with the americas society/council of the americas for representatives from a variety of sectors, amchams, government leaders, and journalists. Worldwide anti-corruption initiatives:amid increasing concerns about escalating corruption and post-pandemic fraud worldwide, cipe is increasing its programs to introduce anti-corruption and compliance approaches. This includes in-depth regional analyses, such as a massive Private sector survey in the andean region, to inform decision-makers and the generation of new resources and guides. Among them: a free online tool intended to analyze and predict trends in 120 countries. The new "corruption risk forecast" uses hard data from a multitude of public sources and also offers risk assessments and other insights intended to assist potential investors, analysts, and watchdog groups. Another key objective is to encourage emerging markets to curb corruption and embrace measures to increase transparency around capital flows in order to create a less-risky playing field for foreign investors. Cipe's anti-corruption & governance Center developed the tool in partnership with the berlin-based hertie school of governance. The tool is already receiving attention from many multi-national firms, media outlets, and academics. Cipe is also expanding its ethics 1st initiative in kenya and nigeria to help businesses attract and de-risk investment and trade by embracing International governance and anti-corruption compliance standards. Meanwhile, there is growing support among world leaders and the global business community for "rapid response" programs to combat corruption in countries with quickly changing environments. Although windows of opportunity for reform are usually brief, anti-corruption advocates with ready resources can make tremendous gains. Cipe is well-positioned for this work and has led rapid response programs with technical and financial assistance for anti-corruption initiatives in the gambia, armenia, sudan, moldova, malaysia, and ecuador. To augment these efforts cipe's anti-corruption & governance Center recently debuted an anti-corruption rapid response website, which is becoming a hub for reformers and thought leaders throughout the world.