The concluding conference of the CSR Saudi Arabia 2014 summit highlighted key focus areas of CSR initiatives in the Kingdom and its contribution to the society.

“Countries such as Saudi Arabia have very strong and unique potential to make a positive contribution though CSR to both society and the environment,” said Daan Elffers, founder of EMG CSR, thought leader and expert on CSR and inclusive economy. “The advantage of its highly educated youth creates an ideal starting point to accelerate innovation and take the lead in transforming challenges into their competitive advantage.”

Princess Lamia Al-Saud, executive manager, media and Communication, Alwaeed Bin Talal Foundation, addressed the gathering on the goals and the role of the foundation in the local community engagement and development. She also stressed on the element of women empowerment, which she mentioned was one of the main interests of the foundation.

Amr Khashoggi, VP of Group Affairs at Zahid Group, talked about how organizations can integrate CSR in to the national agenda to increase the benefit to the community and society. He also urged companies to hire more disabled people, introducing the new Qaderoon Business Disability initiative which was formed by prominent organizations including Zahid Group, Savola, Tamer, Olayan, Alzamil and Almarai.

Khashoggi pointed out that approximately 3 million Saudis are with some form of disability and pressed on the increasing need to provide them with employment opportunities.

Following Khashoggi’s address was a panel discussion among delegates under the theme “Building NGOs and Charities.” The speakers discussed optimizing relations with NGOs and charity foundations to build win-win partnerships.

The speakers in the panel included Nael Fayez,CEO of Injaz, Mona Al-Shehab, executive manager of Intercultural Initiatives at Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation, Noor Serafi,-head of CSR at IMC, Sheikha Al-Sudairy, chief projects officer at Al-Nahda Philanthropic Society for Women ,and Dr. Mamdouh Najjar, Deputy GM of Customer and Partner Experience and CSR at Microsoft.

The panel was moderated by Elffers. Tackling youth unemployment and enhancing the value of CSR were other topics discussed among CSR delegates.

Commenting on the increasing unemployment rates in the Kingdom, Fayez pointed out that the education system in the Kingdom needed upgrading and unemployed youth cannot be blamed for it. “There is a lot of competition for the limited jobs available and the need is huge,” said Fayez.

Monther Tayeb, director of communications at BAE Systems KSA, and Mohamed Al-Ayed, president and CEO of TRACCS, presented case studies on the subject of building effective internal and external communication and marketing strategies to enhance the value of CSR.