Business leaders call for unified concept of corporate social responsibility

AMMAN — Arab business owners operating in the region should “be entrepreneurs, but serve [their] community”, according to a participant in a forum on corporate social responsibility (CSR) that concluded Wednesday.

Speaking at the two-day conference — organised by the Ministry of Social Development, the Prime Ministry and the Arab Organisation for Social Responsibility — Director of Al Ahli Holding Group CSR Division in Dubai Lina Hourani said more than 60 per cent of populations in the Arab world consist of young citizens. 

“If we don’t work in the next 20 years on improving their skills and teaching them about CSR, then the next generation is ruined… young Arabs have to be familiar with the right definition of the concept,” she added at the “Regional Conference for Social Responsibility in the Arab World” held at the Royal Cultural Centre. 

The conference was held for representatives of organisations and companies to share their experiences in developing social responsibility in Jordan, according to Fawaz Ratrout, the Social Development Ministry’s spokesperson.

“There are no criteria or standards set for legislating or organising local initiatives in the Kingdom,” Ratrout told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Speaking at the forum, Mohammad Adwan, the ambassador of cooperation affairs at the Arab Organisation for Social Responsibility, said the purpose of the conference was to stress the importance of CSR and to distinguish it from other types of social development work.

“No one claims to know all the information on social responsibility, yet all companies involved should know that it’s not only about offering financial and in-kind support, it’s about permanent social development,” Adwan added.

For his part, Coca-Cola’s director of human resources and external affairs in Jordan and Syria, Iyad Samman, said international companies licensed to operate in the Kingdom should benefit the local community.

“Companies have to always be transparent with customers,” Samman said at the conference, adding that the connection between the company, stakeholders, and customers should be a three-way relationship. 

Coca-Cola is currently involved in a five-year initiative for students at the University of Jordan, according to Samman, in which a percentage of the price of each product sold will be donated to a student fund. 

He said companies following international CSR practices should put their expertise into practice “in a Jordanian mould”.  

Haifa Abdullah, from the Civil Defence Department’s media office, said in order to improve the quality of work, business owners must set a plan to empower women and agree on a unified CSR concept among companies of the private and voluntary sectors.  

Ratrout said the authorities plan to open three offices in Amman, Irbid, and Aqaba to prepare a strategy for CSR-related legislation and a project to fund initiatives.

The plan also includes setting regulations and standards for organisations and CSR divisions in the private and the voluntary sectors, he added.