JEDDAH: A meeting was held at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) to prepare for the first Saudi Forum for Corportate Social Responsibility (CSR), which is to be held June 7-8.
The forum will discuss major issues related to social responsibility of Saudi companies as well as ways and means to transform individual initiatives into corporate projects for social development.
Ahmed Al-Hamdan, chairman of the Center for Social Responsibility at JCCI, said the culture of social responsibility is expanding in most Saudi companies, adding that efforts are under way to institutionalize such initiatives. "Social responsibility has become the main gateway for both the private and public sectors to make contributions to tackling various social and economic issues in order to ensure the welfare of citizens," he said.
Al-Hamdan said the forum would set out the rules and regulations as well as standards for corporate social responsibility concepts.
The JCCI meeting reviewed the present situation of social responsibility being practiced by Saudi companies and how to develop it in order to promote this culture in the business community. "The forum will also discuss the major challenges facing the implementation of the best practices in social responsibility programs," Al-Hamdan said.
The preparatory meeting emphasized the importance of developing individual social responsibility initiatives into general strategies to become part and parcel of a company's vision.
The participants stressed the need for companies to set up separate departments for social responsibility to take quick decisions. Such departments should be directly linked to the board of directors to make them more effective, they added.
© Arab News 2011
