Atlanta, GA….Leaders of Atlanta's multinational corporations will join former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at a conference on international business practices and corruption June 20 at The Carter Center.
The conference "International Business: The Realities of Dealing with Corruption," hosted by the newly-formed Carter Center Council for Ethical Business Practices, will address global codes of conduct, enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and the realities of avoiding corruption in international business. President Carter, who oversaw passage of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977, will open the conference, and former U.S. Ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development David L. Aaron will be the keynote luncheon speaker.
"For all companies, regardless of their size, conducting business in accordance with the highest standards of ethical business conduct must be a priority," said José Creamer, chair of The Carter Center Council for Ethical Business Practices. "Even an inadvertent mistake can cost the company not only profits but also can do irreparable harm to its reputation. Moreover, the citizens of the countries in which we work suffer equally, through deferred foreign investment and decreased public confidence, when ethics are compromised."
The 1999 Carter Center conference "Transparency in the Americas" focused on the value of transparency to governments and civil society and recommended measures in which governments could fight corruption. Following the conference, a group of Atlanta-based corporations and law firms, including United Parcel Service, Delta Air Lines, Inc., Invesco, BellSouth International, Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems, Mirant Corporation, Troutman Sanders, Alston & Bird and King & Spalding in conjunction with The Carter Center, formed The Carter Center Council for Ethical Business Practices. Its mission is to promote the adoption of codes of conduct, with an emphasis on ethics and integrity in business transactions.
The conference is sponsored by The Carter Center Council for Ethical Business Practices, the Georgia Department of Industry Trade and Tourism, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
Editor's Note: Please call Kay Torrance at 404-420-5129 by June 15 to register if you plan to cover the conference.
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