JEDDAH, 29 June 2007 — The 4th Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) summit kicks off in Dubai on Sunday, bringing together top executives from 18 different countries to discuss issues, challenges and trends in corporate social responsibility. The summit explores the need to connect business values with CSR, and tackles CSR practices in the region and best practices from around the world.
Three Saudi speakers will share their vision and experiences at the summit. They are Abdulhakeem Hakeem, corporate affairs manager in Masterfoods Middle East, Asya Al-Ashaikh of Tamkeen Development and Management Consulting, and Mahmoud H. Al-Turkistani, head of CSR unit in National Commercial Bank.
“With all the growing awareness of the term and increasing debate in media and public forums about the concept of CSR, there is still ambiguity and confusion. And mostly, wherever we have CSR, it is scattered, with almost no company taking on a systematic and structured approach,” Al-Ashaikh said, commenting on the term’s perception and practices in the region.
And as the debate continues around defining CSR, a common question would be: “Is philanthropy different from CSR?”
“Based on the experience we had in the market, philanthropy should be considered part of CSR¸ specially when working with companies in the region, because there is an obvious distinction in the management and cultural context between companies operating in Europe and North America, and companies operating in the GCC countries,” she said.
Emphasis on the business case for CSR and the dynamics driving it which is taking central stage in European and North America, may not necessarily be the starting point for advancing CSR in this regional context where giving back to the community is built-in in the culture” added Al-Ashaikh, explaining that “what matters most is not the terminology rather than the positive social impacts that companies can make in the community with their CSR or charitable contribution and the sincerity of their efforts to make a lasting contribution to the sustainable development of the region.”