TUNIS (TAP) - The January 14 Revolution will undoubtedly provide, after clearing-up of the business environment, Tunisian firms with greater flexibility to create a culture of social responsibility, said Mrs. Wided Bouchamaoui, Chairwoman of Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA). The latter, who headed an UTICA delegation to the works of Africa-France international meeting, currently held by French employers' union, the MEDEF, on July 11-12 in Paris, pointed out that enterprises, the main source of progress, social wealth, innovation and employment, are today at the heart of all development policies.
A company which is "socially responsible" is first and foremost an enterprise whose activity, conduct and initiatives are economically profitable, legally respectful and socially acceptable.
Tunisia, since the '70s, has mobilised social partners around a national pact to maintain social dialogue and collective conventions. "This has been a landmark in the genesis of a social responsibility culture which was reinforced progressively by the country's economic openness on the external market," said Mrs. Bouchamaoui.
During the meeting on "Social Responsibility of African Companies: Means to Speed up Growth and Create Better Jobs," participants raised questions relating to the assessment and prospects of the African economy, the role of enterprises and employers' organisations in creating a better society in Africa, reducing poverty and generating new jobs as well as the enterprise's social responsibility in the economic and social development in Africa.
© Tunis-Afrique Presse 2011
