Financial reporting reform

Strengthening Auditing and Reporting in the Countries of the Eastern Partnership (STAREP) is a regional program aimed at creating a transparent policy environment and effective institutional framework for corporate reporting within the countries that make up the EU's Eastern Partnership: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The six countries have made significant progress in modernizing their systems of corporate financial reporting but face several outstanding common challenges, especially as regards institutional capacity.

As candidates, or potential candidates, for EU enlargement the countries of Southeast Europe, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, are integrating more closely with the EU and the EU's internal market, and aligning their legislative frameworks with the EU acquis communautaire.

EU-REPARIS has been designed to help and encourage this process of integration. It

Public Sector Accounting and Reporting Program (PULSAR) aims to support the enhancement of participating countries’ Public Sector Accounting (PSA) and financial reporting frameworks in line with international standards and in accordance with good practices, in order to improve government accountability, transparency, and performance.

This special edition of “Connecting Voices” was published to coincide with the World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform’s (CFRR) Ministerial Conference in Vienna on 27 April 2016. The theme of the magazine, Financial Information: Catalyst for Growth, is reflected in its articles and interviews, which focus on the importance of timely, reliable, and transparent financial information as a driver and contributor of sustainable economic growth.