11^th Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility

Grand Ballroom, Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand

25 October 2012

10:10 to 10:20 a.m.

STATEMENT BY

MR. ANAND PANYARACHUN

"The impact of global corporate social responsibility"

It is my pleasure to be here with you at the Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility.

Let me start by congratulating the organizers for convening this year's Forum on the theme of social innovation, which involves not only goods and services but processes and technologies that reach out to all stakeholders.

Recent global events have underscored the relevance of this Forum.

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement has dramatically increased the importance of corporate social responsibility.

Today's consumers are demanding that companies consider their impact on society as much as their own business interests.

Commitment to corporate social responsibility has become a key element of good corporate citizenship, alongside sustainability and good governance. And in this context, the 1997 financial crisis and the 2007 global economic crisis provide useful lessons for all of us.

Times have certainly changed. I recall once when CSR programs were merely ad-hoc initiatives.

Now CSR is increasingly institutionalized within an organization, and even standardized across industries.

We are living now in world that knows no borders. As we become ever more connected, we can see that globalization is having a profound impact on corporate social responsibility.

• First, supply chains have globalized and are increasingly a measure of company competitiveness. In its turn, CSR is increasingly integrated into the global supply chain via "green standards" and monitoring health and safety among supply chain sub-contractors.

• Second, multilateral organizations and non-governmental organizations are globalizing CSR. For example, the UN Millennium Development Goals are referred to in the CSR strategies of many companies, including those at the local level. As you know, the MDGs are a set of time bound goals and targets to reduce global poverty and promote health, education, gender equality and environmental sustainability.

• Third, demanding customers from developed countries are driving CSR. European customers are particularly concerned about environmental sustainability. North American customers are particularly concerned about child labor and gender equality issues. Therefore, global and export-oriented companies are responding by adjusting their strategies and operating practices.

• Fourth, "going glocal" is the trend among companies doing business in middle-income and emerging economies that represent a growing customer base, including the population at the bottom-of-the-pyramid. Globally-mandated Headquarters CSR policies are increasingly adapting to local conditions. For example, some host governments are legally requiring CSR, or encouraging companies, to undertake CSR projects on education and health that may not be directly related to the companies' core business, but are of benefit to the local society.

• Fifth, the quest for global solutions to social issues, including respect and support of the human rights of children, is accelerating even as the solutions appear more "glocalized."

The resolution of social issues transcends borders and presents both threats and opportunities for instance in the rise of social media and the democratization and globalization of information and news, as was so evident during the Arab Spring.

Moving to the relevance of CSR at the national or local level, let me use my own country, Thailand, as an example.

Economically, we can proudly call ourselves a developed middle-income developing economy and we can arguably serve as a model for aspiring economies in the Greater Mekong Subregion and beyond.

As an export-oriented manufacturing hub, Thai companies are familiar with the operating requirements of globalization.

Thailand is a major tourist destination, a foreign investment hub, and a part of global manufacturing platforms and supply chains. So the country can modestly state that it has considerable experience with globalization.

With respect to CSR, Thailand is not immune to rising expectations and the need to be even more socially conscious and civic minded.

Our people as consumers are growing in sophistication. They are more conscious of safe and green products.

The new generation of employees expects their employers to address social and environmental issues to be responsible corporate citizens, to use renewable energy, and even to offer a life-style in terms of working hours and income to meet family needs and increasing consumption.

A primary concern that employees look into is not only how the organization conducts business with, but who the organization conducts business with.

Employees pay more attention to their company's codes of ethics and to offers of both living standards and quality life styles.

These issues affecting Thailand will also affect other less developed countries as their economies grow. How Thailand responds to the concerns of the people will also serve as a model for other countries grappling with these social issues.

Looking back, when Bangkok last hosted the Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility in 2003, the theme of the Forum was "Business, Government and Civil Society Collaboration in Nation Building."

Looking at the present, we have indeed seen how multisectoral cooperation has led to higher growth and increased social responsibility in this country. And we see that CSR has been and will continue to be a key driver for engaging with all these actors.

This augurs well for the present Forum.

I wish you every success in your deliberations.

Thank you.