Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability 2010 (marcus evans)

While the roots of corporate responsibility (CR) deepen globally, existing trends are picking up heat while new organisations are taking shape to drive CR awareness and implementation to an outstanding level. A few companies worth mentioning such as Malaysia Airports, Northport, DiGi and BP take CR efforts very seriously proven through the awards won.

Many organisations in Malaysia are also moving from a philanthropy mode to manpower engagement through CR. By localizing CR efforts, Malaysia is heading in the right direction of ethical obligation, driven by passion and backed by the government.

Marcus Evans Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability 2010 organised by Marcus Evans became the meeting point for corporate responsibility practitioners in Malaysia for over 40 participants coming from notable companies such as Petronas, Procter & Gamble, YTL Malaysia, Amway (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bursa Malaysia, Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), Sime Darby Berhad, Kulim (M) Berhad, Malaysia Building Society Berhad, Maxis Communications, National Australia Bank, Northport (Malaysia) Bhd, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, Bank of Maldives Plc, Carl Zeiss, DHL, Fidelity Business Service India Privated Limited, Globe Telecom Phillippines, Titan Industries, Padiberas Nasional Berhad, Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Pertamina Hulu Energy Offshore North West Java, Philipinas Shell Petroleum Corp, PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk., San Roque Power Corporation, Sarawak Energy Berhad, CSR Asia and The CSR Digest.

Bursa Malaysia Bhd’s Head of Market Intelligence, Dr. Jothi Mani Muniandy, opened the conference. Among the more interesting talks was Sime Darby Group’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Puvan J Selvanathan’s, presentation entitled “Developing a framework for Corporate Sustainability”. The congolomerate has split its CSR into two separate operations, “CSR” and “Sustainability”. While participates were confused with the dichotomy and difference of the department, it appeared that the “CSR” dealt with the external elements of of the field, while “sustainability” dealt with the internal.

While one might question the need to split the two, since they need to work hand-in-hand (as pointed out by Mr Puvan himself), his presentation was insightful and it is clear that Sime Darby is working hard towards being a responsible corporation. Mr Puvan also revealed that Sime Darby intends to bring sustainability to the board room in the near future. Meanwhile, other corporations discussed how their organisation dealt with CSR and Rikke Netterstrom, Managing Director of CSR Asia, Malaysia, discussed how to stay ahead of regulation and public expectation through stakeholder engagement.

Aside from this, the conference addressed today’s challenging economic conditions as there has been an increase in attention to social obligations, economic and environment aspect of business activity and performance from key decision makers such as the investors, suppliers, customers, employees, pressure groups and the community.

Headquartered in London, Marcus Evans is one of the world’s biggest conference organizer with offices in over 30 countries worldwide.

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