ASEAN CSR Network urges media to help raise awareness among the public

Story and photos by Chhay Sophal

Singapore (8 April 2015): Representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and other civil society have urged media to help raise awareness of private sector’s social responsibility among the pubic for the sake of environment and sustainable development.

Speaking in a conference here this week in Singapore on “Corporate Social Responsibility: Connecting the Private Sector with the Media”, Thomas Thomas, CEO of the Singapore-based ASEAN CSR said media is really important to help raise of the link between business and the social impact otherwise it affects the public. CSR is also related to the media, he said.

The conference organised by the Tokyo-office-based Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) on 6-8 April in cooperation with ASEAN CSR Network. The conference — participated by speakers, moderators and participants who are civil society officials, journalists and businesspersons from Asia and Europe — aims to connect the expertise and experiences from numerous stakeholders involved in designing, implementing and finally communicating Corporate Social Responsibility to the public in Asia.

Paul Linarz, the Tokyo-office-based KAS Regional Representative for Economic Policy, said both media people and representatives from private sector as well as civil society can share experiences with each other for the issue. Media people cannot come to just listen to the private sector and other stakeholders but they can share their experience with the conference, he told the conference by adding that linking journalists to the target groups is crucial so that the groups can explain the issue clearly to the journalists.

Some journalists who are the conference speakers and moderators also urged government institutions, civil society and private sector to assign their own press officers or spokespersons who can provide regular and update information to the media. Easy access to information is a must — not just PR information — so that journalists can have information to develop news stories on CSR.

Making business is not just for money and profit but the private sector must think of sustainability and the business ethics that do not harm society, i.e. balancing between money and social impacts.

According to a document released at the conference, CSR has been popularized into a buzzword bar to none, emanating sustainability and ethical conduct in the private sector. However, CSR should not merely be regarded as a philanthropic means to improve the image of businesses.

Instead, the concept of CSR has, in recent years, entered a ‘maturing process’ and can be interpreted as a fundamental component for developing business strategies, especially in employer-branding as well as product-positioning, the document reads by adding that CSR has therefore become an indispensable tool for businesses on the capital market.

Rajesh Chhabara, Director of CSR Works International, said companies’ good reports must contain value for both internal and external companies and accepting the feedback from the outsiders. The main important parts of CSR are report on what really matter, know what and where the impacts occur, and how manage the impacts, including measure own performances, he said.

This is the second time that KAS has conducted such important event. The first event was done in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, last November.