We hope that they, too, will do what is necessary to encourage investor confidence. This requires guarantees that ensure foreign investors will be treated like domestic investors, that permit unfettered financial transfers, and that allow access to international arbitration. Restoring investor confidence also requires that we work closely with the business community. Private sector assistance could be especially valuable in developing deep and liquid long-term debt markets, in improving the efficiency of equity markets, and in introducing new financial instruments. But perhaps the most important ingredient in restoring investor convince is transparency.
Transparency is a word that has taken on many related meanings nowadays.
It stands for the principle that goverments and businesses should keep their books open, so investors have the information they need to make responsible decisions. It describes a state of affairs in which people are free to exchange information and ideas and decision makers are kept accountable by an informed public. Most important, it expresses an expectation that in a climate of openness, economic decisions will be shaped by market forces, and not distorted by corruption. This is an issue we all have to talk about openly. For in a sense, the first requirement of transparency is that we have an honest discussion about transparency.