The FINANCIAL — The Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel hosted live presentations of the Corporate Social Responsibility of leading Georgian companies last week. The event which was organized by The FINANCIAL, invited key speakers from the American Chamber of Commerce, International Chamber of Commerce Georgia and companies who consider CSR to be an integral part of their business.
AmCham, ICC, Eurasia Partnership Foundation, Irao Insurance Company, Geocell, Shuchmann Wines Georgia, VTB Bank, Alliance Group Holding and BP summarized the CSR activities they have implemented in 2014. The FINANCIAL also published a special edition on CSR.
Companies introduced their vision and philosophy regarding CSR. They explained the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment.
Corporate Social Responsibility is the commitment of businesses to contribute to sustainable economic development by working with employees, their families, and society at large to improve their lives in ways that are good for business and for development.
“Our goal is to raise awareness of CSR in the media and society as there is still a lack of awareness,” said Lali Javakhia, Head of the Marketing Department at The FINANCIAL.
“We want to underline the CSR issue and help companies have full understanding of what CSR really comprises. It is about useful activities conducted by businesses for the companies themselves, as well as for society and the environment at the same time. This is a very pressing issue for many leading corporations worldwide, where CSR is considered a mechanism of sustainable development for business and society as well as for overcoming economic crises. Only two companies – Aversi and Bank Republic – were ready to do a presentation on CSR in 2007 when The FINANCIAL first started conducting such meetings. Nowadays, more companies are involved in CSR and participated in the live presentations, a fact we are proud of,” she added.
Representatives of the companies believe that such meetings are useful for them as they are able to share information about their CSR activities with society.
“Despite the fact that the company Peri has been operating on the market since 1991 and has been actively involved in constructing power stations and tunnels, the company has never announced its activities regarding CSR,” said Tatia Kobeishvili, Company Peri’s Head of Public Relations. “However, over time we realized that it is better to announce such campaigns as they become examples for other companies to follow. The best CSR practices encourage other companies to be involved in them as well,” she added.
“We financed the rugby team in Kazbegi where our hydro power stations are in the process of being constructed. There are several villages where only 2-3 children live and they are not in communication with each other. By creating the rugby team they are now closer to each other. There was a problem with transport, but we helped them to solve it. We are going to become even more active in the CSR direction in 2015,” she said.
“Sheraton Metechi Palace pays lots of attention to CSR and has been very active in implementing CSR projects,” said Leila Akhmetelashvili, HR Manager at Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel. “I would like to single out in particular the Green Committee’s activities which control secondary processing products. We take part in marathons and promote a healthy lifestyle. We participate in charity events and help the elderly. All these activities are very useful for the company and for the country as well. It is not difficult to be a socially responsible company. It should just be the desire of the company and that is enough to be a socially responsible company. I would encourage all the companies in Georgia to join CSR campaigns,” she added.
“In the past three years Georgian companies’ CSR programmes have grown steadily,” said Nicola Mariani, Co-Head of the CSR Commission of ICC Georgia and International Resident Partner of Dechert Georgia LLC. “As more companies participate, we expect that participation will continue to grow. However, while Georgian companies are opening up to CSR, a number of challenges remain. In my view, Georgian companies should invest in projects that focus on the employees, the environment, education and healthcare in Georgia,” he added.
“A good example of a success story that has enabled a number of Georgian companies to recycle is a recycling company that has recently been established in Georgia. Coop.ge is a market leader in the field of recycling and has been visiting schools around Georgia to educate students on the importance of recycling and the effect of recycling on the environment as well as the materials that can be recycled. Coop.ge has also been working with restaurants and hotels around Tbilisi to reduce the amount of waste produced through a recycling collection programme,” he said.
The event was followed by a cocktail reception. Participants each received a certificate of commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility.
The FINANCIAL issued a special edition about CSR which highlighted the social activities of Georgian businesses; it described how Georgian companies manage their business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. The FINANCIAL’s Special Edition brought together leading Georgian companies and their CEOs.
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