Forum: Support social programs

The Second Saudi Companies Social Responsibility Forum (CSR), which concluded here yesterday, called for working out new programs aimed at supporting social responsibility initiatives. Two sessions were held on the second day of the event, organized by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), in cooperation with Economic and Business Group. Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed opened the two-day event at Park Hyatt Hotel on Tuesday. Several prominent businessmen, top company executives, officials and economists participated in event. Main speakers at the concluding day included Turki bin Muammar, director of government and pubic relations, and chief of social responsibility at Procter & Gamble (P&G) in the Arabian Peninsula and Dr. Sharif Tahmeer, social responsibility official at Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital. Addressing the fifth session titled “Mechanism for building responsible supply chains,” the speakers underscored the need for setting up and manage supply chains, and linking them with the social responsibility strategy of major companies. They also called for monitoring all the practices within the supply chains and make them harmonious with the goals of the social responsibility initiatives of companies. Faisal Abu Zaki, CEO of Economic and Business Group, presided over the session. The sixth session on social responsibility and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was chaired by Ziyad Bassam, member of the board and deputy chairman of the development center for small enterprises at JCCI. The speakers included Hisham Lanjawi, director of the Makkah branch of the Human Resources Development Fund, Yasser Muhammad Abdu Yemani, deputy CEO for social responsibility at Dallah Al-Baraka Group, and Nawaf Al-Shaalani, director general of media affairs at the Saudi Telecom Co. In his speech, Al-Shaalani highlighted the major social responsibility initiatives launched by STC. In the opening session of the forum, Ahmad Al-Hamdan, chairman of Jeddah Social Responsibility Center, unveiled plans to launch JCCI Prize for Social Responsibility, which will be awarded to companies that are making outstanding contributions in the field of social responsibility programs and experiments throughout the Kingdom. Al-Hamdan said the objective of the forum is to deepen the concept of social responsibility as well as to unify efforts of public and private sectors to confront challenges while activating social responsibility programs. The sponsors of the forum included Saudi Research & Marketing Group (SRMG).