Study reveals that 89% of companies in the Levant region are actively engaged in social responsibility activities

Beirut, 09 April 2015

After 12 years of success in the Dubai and the GCC, The "CSR Levant Summit 2015" organized by Informa will expand its footprint and will take place in Lebanon under the patronage of H.E. Boutros Harb, Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications, from 15-17 April at the ESA Business School (École supérieure des affaires) with the participation of key CSR stakeholders who will meet in Beirut to discuss best ways to implement measureable CSR programmes that drive sustainable development in Lebanon and the wider Levant region.

The Ministry of Telecommunications in Lebanon has chosen to support the event in order to show its support of CSR, and H.E. Minister Harb will take part in the Opening Ceremony at the Summit on 15th April 2015. 

Alfa, managed by Orascom Telecom, is the Official Telecom Partner of the event. CEO and Chairman of Alfa, Mr. Marwan Hayek said that "CSR is a strategic approach that highly contributes to economic development and sustainable growth," emphasizing that "At Alfa, we consider CSR to be part of our DNA and we have been highly committed to integrating sustainable practices in all aspects of our business and especially through our 10-year CSR Program 'Alfa 4-Life" while taking into consideration the triple bottom line: People, Planet and Profit."

In regards to Alfa's support for the Summit, Hayek said: "We are glad and proud to be the Official Telecom Partner of the CSR Levant Summit which comes to reflect our constant support for initiatives that raise the bar on CSR." "This Summit will enable all participating stakeholders, including public, private sectors and civil society, to strengthen mutual cooperation to further benefit our community."

Adding her comments, Hoda Abdelhay, Conference Producer at Informa, the organisers of CSR Levant 2015, said: "Based on a study conducted with almost 100 organisations and CSR professionals in the Levant region, a significant number of companies are actively engaged in corporate social activities, whether they are in the process of developing a CSR structure or already have a well-established platform that they are improving. The survey showed that 89% of organizations are actively engaged in social responsibility activities and 59% already have integrated CSR strategies."

Following the survey, Informa published the results in an Infographic Report ,which takes an analytical look at the impact that CSR has on various stakeholders.

Ahead of his participation at the Summit, Karim Safieddine, Citi Bank's MENA Public Affairs & Government Relations Head said; "We have put our 'more than philanthropy' approach to work in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region, as demonstrated by the quality of programs we've supported with NGOs such as Injaz, Amideast, and YMCA, not to mention a legacy financial aid program which ran for many years with American University of Beirut, Lebanese American University and Saint Joseph University."

Adding to the discussion, Dr. Abdel-Maoula Chaar from the ESA Business School said that "Social responsibility enables companies to exceed their technical functions to give back to the community within the environment in which they evolve. CSR lies therefore in a global context. In Lebanon and in most of the emerging markets, social and economic development is considered a priority. This is why ESA School (Ecole Supérieure des Affaires) has decided to create a platform that will synergize good will and university resources, actors from public and private sectors as well as civil society, in order to enhance the well-being of underprivileged segments of the population."

CSR Levant 2015 will gather leading representatives of corporate organisations, ministries and other government bodies, NGOs, universities and social entrepreneurs from across the Levant and around the world. Some of the topics that will be discussed include how to build CSR functions in organisations, develop sustainability into CSR programmes to drive community development, methods that can strengthen education delivery and empower the youth, as well as best practices that can increase CSR value to the business and local society.

In addition to Alfa Telecom being the Official Telecom Sponsor of the CSR Levant Summit, Sanofi is the Official Healthcare Sponsor.

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About CSR Levant
15-17 April 2015, ESA Business School, Beirut
www.csrlevant.com/Home/

About Informa CSR Series
Running for 12 years, Informa CSR summits are designed to share CSR and sustainability excellence to help drive social and economic development throughout the Middle East and North Africa. These summits are developed by working closely with key stakeholders including government, corporates and the CSR community to ensure a sustainable future for the region in focus areas such as youth engagement, education,community development, employment, development of women, human rights and entrepreneurship

Informa Middle East, formerly known as IIR Middle East, has over two decades of regional experience in organising and managing all types of business events including top quality conferences or training courses. Based in the UAE with offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Informa is an international company with some 100 offices around the world employing over 6,000 people in global events, academic publishing and business intelligence.

Visit www.csrsummitseries.com for more information on Informa CSR Series.

For further information about Informa visit www.informa-mea.com

About Alfa
Alfa is the first Lebanese mobile network owned by the Republic of Lebanon and managed by Orascom Telecom, Media and Technology (OTMT). Alfa capitalizes on the vast know-how and international expertise of OTMT in order to deliver quality and professional solutions for the mobile sector in Lebanon. On October 25, 2011, Alfa was the first mobile operator to launch 3G+ mobile broadband services in Lebanon. In a new technological achievement, Alfa has become the first operator that launches 4G-LTE commercially in Lebanon on May 15, 2013. Alfa currently serves 1.9 million subscribers and its state of the art network (2G, 3G, 4G LTE) covers 99% of Lebanon. For more information, please visit: www.alfa.com.lb

About Orascom Telecom Media and Technology
OTMT is a holding company that has investments in companies with operations mainly in Egypt, North Korea, Pakistan, Lebanon and other North African and Middle-Eastern countries. The activities of OTMT are mainly divided into its GSM, media and technology and cable businesses. The GSM activities include mobile telecommunications operations in Egypt, North Korea and Lebanon. The media and technology division consists of OT Ventures/Intouch Communications Service and the OT Ventures Internet portals and other ventures in Egypt, including LINK Development, ARPU+ and LINKonLINE. The cable business focuses on the management of cable networks.

© Press Release 2015