The FINANCIAL — CEOs of the leading companies in Georgia last week agreed on a working plan of CSR activities. Members of the UN Global Compact Initiative gathered on Friday to summarize their business practices and positive impact of CSR on companies and the national economy. “Joint initiatives of this kind send an important massage to the international community saying that Georgia is a country with a well organized active and ambitious business sector, even at a time of economic crisis,” says Lasha Zhvania, Minister of Economic Development.
Launched in 2000, the United Nations Global Compact is one of the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative with over 6,500 signatories based in more than 130 countries. According to the UN Global Compact Office, The UN Global Compact’s 2010 leader’s summit will be held in June 2010 in New York.
The event in Georgia brought together business leaders from Georgian and international companies, representatives of business associations, civil society organizations, the academic community and international donors. The conference was supported by ten business associations and civil society organizations, which earlier this year signed an agreement on collaboration for promoting CSR principles in Georgia.
The conference was opened by Heidi Eterovic, Global Compact Manager, Senior Broker of the United Nations Development Programme. She welcomed the conference, where business, civil society and the government sector of Georgia came together to collaborate on Georgia’s further development efforts.
Discussion of national priorities in promoting main CSR principles-inclusive economic development, ethical principles of doing businesses, multi-stakeholder dialogue, progressive management and corporate governance standards, topped the agenda of the conference. The conclusions of the plenary sessions and working group discussions were also put together in a combined report.
“For emerging markets like Georgia and Ukraine, it is important to take a systematic approach and view corporate responsibility as a core part of our business strategy and not an add on,” says Jock Mendoza-Wilson, Director of International and Investor Relations at System Capital Management Ukraine and the chairman of the global compact steering Committee in Ukraine.
“I think that if you use CSR as a part of your corporate strategy it will improve your efficiency. It’s relevant for all businesses and it helps to develop good human resources in the company which is a real competitive advantage. Good CSR equals good business and the establishing of effective partnerships,” Mendoza-Wilson says.
Thirty-five companies and organizations in Georgia are now part of the CSR network promoted by the UN Global Compact Initiative. The network includes a number of Georgian and international companies and is also open for non-business organizations and academic institutions.
Gilbert Hie, CEO of Bank Republic, spoke about the means of CSR. Bank Republic is a member of the UN Global Compact in terms of CSR.
“Being socially responsible is very important for our bank. I think that CSR is also important for one’s corporate image and in the banking industry it’s very important. Corporate Social Responsibility in my view is definitely necessary for the company,” Gilbert Hie says.
Hie says that beyond the sponsorship trends, Bank Republic’s special focus is centred on charity. For that purpose, the Bank initiated the establishment of the Charity Fund “Tsiskari”.
“With the initiative of Lasha Papashvili, Chairman of the Supervisory Council of Bank Republic, much effort has been put in to the corporate governance of the Bank,” Hie remarks.
Samson Pkhakadze, Head of the Supervisory Board of Wissol Petroleum Georgia reviewed the company’s CSR projects implemented during the last year. He underlined the importance of social projects in business development.
Head of Brain Source International Mikheil Lelashvili said that society in Georgia is at the stage of becoming aware of how important CSR is. The culture of SCR in companies is imported to Georgia from multinational companies.
“Corporate Social Responsibility brings only positive effects to companies,” Lelashvili said.
“UNDP is a very powerful organization, so it’s very good that they have taken an interest in Georgia. In my view, this project is very successful and Magticom is very happy to be a part of it. Magticom is involved in different CSR activities in different spheres and we will keep on doing it,” says David Lee, General Director of company Magticom.
At the conference the CSR network announced that in the future it will be hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) with continued support from UNDP.
Written By Tako Khelaia
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