Reporting on CSR activities key to business growth, say speakers

Entrepreneurs are taking steps to ensure their business growth through reporting of Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) activities such as medical facilities, education and creating awareness on environmental threats among employees, said speakers at a webinar.

They said that resilience of environmental & social threats would ensure more productivity of industries and enhance contribution of employees to the development of the country’s economy. Therefore, sustainability of any company depends on how a it manages its relationships with employees, suppliers, customers & the community.

Speakers said these while addressing a webinar titled ‘Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG)-Global Perspective’ organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) on Saturday.

Speaking the programme as chief guest, Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives, Md Tazul Islam, said that governance is a combination of rules, regulations, practices, and processes by which a company is directed, operated, monitored, controlled and it balances the interests of the stakeholders.

“Successful businessmen attain sustainable business growth by taking together corporates, stakeholders, public and environment. While doing so, the roles of auditors are commendable, as they act as a link between corporates and public,” he added.

“CAs are performing a very critical job, specially in the field of auditing. Auditing is essential to corporations and the society because it is a medium to build a good relationship between corporations and stakeholders,” the minister said.

ICAB President Mahmudul Hasan Khusru FCA delivered welcome address while Nasir Uddin Ahmed FCA, Council Member and former President of ICAB conducted the session as the session chairman.

Mahmudul Hasan Khusru said, “Investors, regulators, consumers and media see how the company uses energy, manages its wastes and deals with pollution and environmental risks and how it acts in the wake of disasters”.

Laying out the European and American models of legal requirements and regulatory frameworks for corporate social responsibilities (CSR), Mahmudul Hasan Khusru also said, “Noncompliance of CSR policies are often

undertaken as legal punishment in those countries. Their laws enforce corporations to make decisions based on long term sustainability of the corporation rather than on profits and dividends alone. in Bangladesh, the practice of CSR is rather of negative impact, as structural approaches - through which CSR is administered and regulated - often lack practical applicability”.

“Chartered Accountants as information provider to the top management and stakeholders should take into consideration the environmental, social and corporate governance rules while they plan future oversight functions of the company for business,” he further added.

Asif Chowdhury, Senior Manager, Ernst & Young LLP, United Kingdom and Adeeba Nuraina Risha, Research Associate, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) jointly presented the keynote paper.

ICAB CEO Shubhashish Bose made introductory remarks and Vice President Sidhartha Barua FCA made concluding remarks at the webinar.

Professor Dr. Khondoker Mokaddam Hossain, Founder Director of Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies (IDMVS) of University of Dhaka and Professor Dr. Jaynal Uddin Ahmed, Department of Management, North- Eastern Hill University, Meghalaya, India also spoke at the programme.