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Asian Business Leaders Present Responsible Business Solutions at the 9th CSR Asia Summit 2015

Companies are increasingly integrating their CSR activities into their core business strategy to remain competitive in the global economy

Asian Business Leaders Present Responsible Business Solutions at the 9th CSR Asia Summit 2015

Companies are increasingly integrating their CSR activities into their core business strategy to remain competitive in the global economy

Published 10-28-15

Submitted by CSR Asia Ltd

The CSR Asia Summit, an annual leading conference on corporate social responsibility in Asia recently gathered more than 420 delegates, with a unique mix of leaders from business, government and civil society to address pressing concerns and understand important emerging trends.

Now in its ninth year, the two-day CSR Asia Summit is recognised as the most innovative and thought-provoking conference on corporate social responsibility in the region. The 2015 Summit was recently held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a focus on sustainable business strategies which bring shared value to business, community and society. Participants included representatives from Digi, Fuji Xerox, Huawei, Kulim Malaysia, Musim Mas, Nestle Malaysia, Prudence Foundation, Sime Darby, The Coca-Cola Company and Visa, amongst others.

“In the wake of the current economic landscape, companies are now re-evaluating their business strategies in both developed and developing countries. In doing so, sustainability issues have become ever more important and increasingly, companies operating throughout Asia need to integrate their CSR activities into their core business strategy to remain competitive in the global economy,” said Dr. Richard Welford, Chairman of CSR Asia.

“By bringing the CSR Asia Summit to Malaysia, we are sharing with business leaders in the region how they can leverage more value through CSR and sustainability strategies. This requires improved accountability and transparency and the development of new and innovative partnerships with NGOs and the investment community,” added Dr. Welford.

CSR Asia Summit 2015: Three Main Themes

Three main themes were covered in this year’s summit: Development Challenges, Human Resources and Workplaces, and The Environment and Sustainability. Business leaders were at the Summit to address challenges such as poverty reduction through innovative new business models and solutions to tackle issues associated with disasters, and protecting the environment while contributing to development.

During the Summit, participants recognised that human resource issues and human rights challenges are an integral part of any company’s CSR agenda. Emerging challenges around gender, migrant workers, human rights and modern day slavery are emerging as risk and opportunity for businesses. Involving people in new and innovative community investment initiatives will be of growing importance to companies that want to recruit and retain talent.

“Providing employment opportunities to the poor and helping them develop their skills can play a part in boosting efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger in developing countries. It is crucial for companies to employ local people and develop partnerships with local communities. In many poor countries, there is a tendency to depend excessively on one particular industry. Companies providing support should help economies to break away from such dependency by supporting initiatives that stimulate the diversification of economic activity. Companies should contribute to programs that help local community members (especially women) establish businesses, and support the creation of employment opportunities,” said Dr Welford.

The environment continues to be central to the sustainable development agenda and the sessions in this summit examined business perspectives on some of the biggest challenges over the next decade. Participants examined the role of the private sector in mitigating and adapting to environmental change.

Channel NewsAsia Sustainability Ranking

The Summit also revealed the top performing companies in the 2015 Channel NewsAsia Sustainability Ranking. The Ranking, developed in partnership with Sustainalytics and CSR Asia, identified the top 100 companies in the region with the highest sustainability performance, based on a broad range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators.

The Ranking provided investors and consumers with insights into corporate sustainability practices, and a way to benchmark performance against other regional businesses. Based on specific ESG indicators and methodology developed by Sustainalytics, a leading provider of ESG and corporate governance ratings and research, the Ranking highlighted the overall top 20 companies as well as the top three businesses per country. The territories covered are China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and new for 2015 – Japan.

Snapshot of results: 

Sustainability Ranking 2015

For more information on CSR Asia Summit 2015, please visit
http://www.csr-asia.com/summit2015/index.php

For more information on CSR Asia Summit 2015, please visit

http://www.csr-asia.com/summit2015/index.php

For more information on The Channel NewsAsia Sustainability Ranking, please visit http://sustainability-ranking.channelnewsasia.com/

For more information on CSR Asia, please visit http://www.csr-asia.com/

For more information on Sustainalytics, please visit: http://www.sustainalytics.com/

Follow CSR Asia on Twitter: @CSR_Asia

Follow CSR Asia on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/482974

 

About CSR Asia Summit

CSR Asia Summit is an annual leading conference on corporate social responsibility in Asia. Since 2007, CSR Asia has brought together hundreds of sustainability professionals and thought leaders to discuss cutting edge issues and share their experiences.

The two-day event combines a packed programme of speakers and panel discussions covering a wide range of relevant topics, and also provides excellent networking opportunities. CSR Asia also runs an additional day of optional capacity building courses prior to the Summit. 

The CSR Asia Summit is attended and supported by many leading global companies, NGOs and academia. In addition, the event is held at a different location in Asia each year to provide local companies and organisations with a platform to build awareness of the challenges and opportunities specific to their country.


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CSR Asia Ltd

CSR Asia Ltd

CSR Asia is the leading provider of information, training, research and advisory services on sustainable business practices in Asia. Operating as a dynamic social enterprise committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR), CSR Asia occupies the unique middle ground between civil society organisations and fully commercial consultancies. This enables us to provide independent and cutting edge services and expert insight into the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues facing companies in Asia. Through our offices in Bangkok, Beijing,Edinburgh, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo, CSR Asia builds capacity and promotes awareness of CSR in order to advance sustainable development across the region.

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