Big companies urged to spend more on CSR

Speakers at a programme called upon big companies Tuesday to spend more on corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the basis of size, number of employees and profit.
They also noted that CSR should be a voluntary norm but it should be done following some guidelines to ensure transparency, contribute to the sustainable development process and bring about a greater change in society.
Their observations came at the second session of a day-long dialogue on 'Korean Development Experience: Lessons for Bangladesh'. Korean Embassy in Dhaka and Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) jointly organised the programme at a city hotel.
Senior secretary of commerce ministry, Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, ndc, was present as the chief guest at the session titled 'Global Best Practices of CSR: Implications for Bangladesh' while CPD distinguished fellow Debapriya Bhattachariya moderated.
Seoul National University School of Law Professor Jaemin Lee presented a paper on 'The Latest CSR Trends and Implications for Bangladesh from Korea's Experience' and CSR Centre Dhaka chief executive officer Shahamin S Zaman presented a paper on 'Desirable CSR from the Perspective of Bangladesh' in the second session.   
In her remarks, former adviser to the caretaker government Rokia Afzal Rahman said a company employing 30,000 employees and maintaining very good industrial and international relation is not enough.
This company should contribute to education or health sector through which at least 3.0 million people are benefited, she added.
The immediate past president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) said there is poverty in Bangladesh. If a company sells 10 million soaps and 10 million shampoos and say they do CSR by educating 100 children, it's not fair.
 "I don't think that's fair. They have to benefit at least five million people through their CSR," she added.
It is not enough that only 200 companies do CSR. But the number of companies doing CSR should be 2.0 million for a greater contribution, said the noted woman entrepreneur.
She said there is definitely lack of clarity what it means in terms of allocating money to certain sector. Bangladesh is on right path but it should not underestimate the challenges like supply chain pressure which will make the companies behave properly and the social expectation manifested through government rules and regulations.
Although CSR is voluntary and self-regulated and has to come from the community as a whole, it is beyond charity, Mr. Debapriya said. There might be emergency responses but at the end of the day this is a process which has to be sustainable, has to do with transformation in someway of the overall challenges and is to integrate with overall economic development issues, he said.
Mr Bhattachariya said CSR is about improving the core value of the company. If it doesn't improve the core value, it will not relate with its competitiveness issues in a certain way to generate a premium.
He said there are at least three or four attributes of companies which make those more relevant for CSR. These are size of the company defined by profit or turnover, which means SMEs and informal sector companies are not included in the category. Then comes number of people the company is employing and the market size where they are selling their products. Also ownership issue is very important for making it relevant for CSR, he added.
Professor Lee said government supports and guides corporation's increased CSR awareness, coordinates and introduces support programmes like tax incentives and matching fund.
Korean companies have realized more about the importance of CSR for long-term success of their business and think it a win-win strategy.
He said CSR is more society specific and not country specific. It is about moving from shareholders to stakeholders.
Hedayetullah Al Mamoon said CSR can improve the poverty situation.
He observed CSR should be voluntary and it should not be imposed.
 "We should not give any guideline. Forcing things will not be a good idea," he added.
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