CSR is part of the culture of change in the emirate

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies need to be designed and implemented voluntarily to have a sustainable effect, senior government officials and top executives said yesterday.

Speaking on the Dubai Dialogue on CSR forum, Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shihhi, Director-General at the Ministry of Economy, said if CSR is made an obligation, people will always find ways to go around it.

"CSR should be voluntary," Hamad Buamim, Director-General of Dubai Chamber of Commerce added. "We know that it would take some time. This is a culture change – you cannot do it overnight. You cannot get something from the UK and place it in Dubai. We want to make a Dubai model to have a model for the Middle East." Yahya bin Saeed Al Lootah, Vice-Chairman of SS Lootah Group and SS Lootah Contracting said: "It is not supposed to be imposed, it won't be sustainable if it doesn't come from the heart."

Al Shihhi added that while charity is important, charity for the sake of charity is not CSR. "What makes CSR important is that it has a long-term growth advantage for the company," he said.

Buamim said CSR helps build employee loyalty and motivation, develop new customers, enhance competitiveness and deliver higher financial results.

Abdullah Al Shirawi, second vice-chairman of Dubai Chamber, said CSR is not new and has been in the region for ages but in its traditional form of philanthropy."

"The main concept of CSR is embedded in our religion," he said. "When a person dies, he will be asked how did he live his life, how did he take advantage of his youth, how did others benefit from his knowledge and how did he spend or earn his money. How you earn it has a lot to do with CSR."

However, currently CSR in the UAE confronts several obstacles such as lack of accurate statistics about its condition, definition of CSR itself and CSR concepts in the minds of those managing the companies, Mohammed Bakkar Al Harthy, CEO of Social Benefits, Community Development Authority said.

A recent report issued by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce said the contribution of companies in social responsibility in the UAE does not exceed one per cent. This weak contribution does not only apply to the UAE as almost conferences in Saudi, Qatar and Kuwait showed no significant change in the said figure, he said. "The path ahead is still a long way to go," Al Harthy added.

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