Indonesian corporate governance 'on the up'

Standards of corporate governance in Indonesia have shown significant improvement over the last ten years, according to an expert from the World Bank.

Subham Chaudhuri, lead economist at the international institution, said the country has made important progress in this area but remains behind neighbours such as Malaysia and Thailand.

Mr Chaudhuri was speaking at the launch of an assessment by the World Bank on corporate governance practices in Indonesia, the Jakarta Post reports.

He suggested that disclosure requirements for publicly listed companies should be strengthened, while the nation's legal framework for good governance would benefit from some enhancements.

"The awareness of shareholders also requires improvement in the future," Mr Chaudhuri said.

Senior private sector development specialist at the World Bank David Robinett said Indonesia scored 77 out of 100 for transparency in its assessment, up from 60 in 2004.

In the latest CG Watch report from the Asian Corporate Governance Association, Indonesia was ranked tenth out of 11 nations.

The study said corporate governance in the country is improving overall, but hindered by a "weak political system".