This Toolkit provides an overall framework with practical tools and information to help policymakers design and implement corporate governance reforms for state-owned enterprises. It concludes with guidance on managing the reform process, in particular how to prioritize and sequence reforms, build capacity, and engage with stakeholders.

The OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises give concrete guidance to help policy makers evaluate and improve the legal, regulatory and institutional framework for the ownership and governance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). They identify the key building blocks to ensure professionalised ownership and governance, and offer practical guidance for implementation at the national level. The Guidelines ensure state-owned enterprises contribute to sustainability, economic security and resilience, by maintaining a global level playing field and high standards of integrity and business conduct.

This report documents changes in state ownership and SOE governance in both OECD and partner economies and assesses the extent to which the Guidelines have served as a “roadmap for reform” in individual countries since 2015, following the most recent update of the Guidelines. Drawing on practices in up to 31 jurisdictions, it covers organising the state enterprise ownership function; safeguarding a level playing field between SOEs and private businesses; equitable treatment of shareholders and other investors; stakeholder relations and responsible business; transparency and disclosure practices; and professionalising boards of directors.

Prior to the COVID-19 shock, the key challenge facing policymakers in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia region was how to generate strong, sustainable, job-rich, inclusive growth. Post-COVID-19, this challenge has only grown given the additional reduction in fiscal space due to the crisis and the increased need to support the recovery. The sizable state-owned enterprise (SOE) footprint in the region, together with its cost to the government, call for revisiting the SOE sector to help open fiscal space and look for growth opportunities.

This report provides trends and evolutions in the ownership and governance of state-owned enterprises across nearly 59 jurisdictions worldwide. It complements the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises and provides comparable information across jurisdictions to support more effective implementation of the Guidelines.

These principles of corporate governance, endorsed by the OECD Council at Ministerial level in 1999, provide guidelines and standards to insure inclusion, accountability and abilit to attract capital.

This publication gives a comparative review of corporate governance practices in relation to state-owned enterprises in OECD countries, including scale and organisation, board composition and functions, relationships with non-state shareholders, the role of stakeholders transparency and disclosure.