International seminar on CSR concludes

The business community can make tremendous contribution in promoting community well being, especially if innovative Cooperate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives are undertaken in partnership with government and civil society.
The speakers expressed these views on the concluding day of the international seminar on CSR here on Wednesday. They also said that CSR can be a revolutionary way of contributing to systematic social changes in which investments can produce lasting social benefits in health, education, media and community care.
Speaking on the occasion Chairman, Helpline Trust A. Hamid Maker has said that CSR is basically an obligation, working for the benefit of the social good, as well as for profit maximisation. As such, the concept of social corporate responsibility is assuming new dimensions. He also said that corporate responsible is beyond the letter of law and is towards a spirit of trust, respect for the rules of trade, environment, promote sustainable development programme and to avoid illicit operations like hoarding, misleading advertisements, bribery, tax evasion and above all "putting consumers interest first".
Maker, said that unfortunately in Pakistan ,except for a few, there is a general lack of Corporate Citizenship towards consumers and most of them just believe in "lip service and cosmetic contributions" which project their organisations or their products. He also said that due to the absence of Consumer Protection Laws and the lack of enforcement of existing food and drug laws, sub-standard and counterfeit products have flooded third world markets and the consumers are being blatantly cheated and mislead by glossy and misleading advertisements.
He further said that however, just establishing standards and consumer laws is not sufficient in developing countries, where laws are flouted with impunity. "As such, a procedure by which governments are obligated to enforce consumer laws and standards, must be given due attention," Maker concluded.
Principal Hailey College of Banking and Finance Dr Khawaja Amjad Saeed has said that in Pakistan, the concept of CSR has still not gained the wide spread support that it enjoys in the developed and more industrialised countries. The local industry by and large still seems to be unaware of true concept of CSR, and the government has yet to design a mechanism for calculating real time data on CSR practices in the corporate sector. Convenor of CSR conference Dr Shahid Mahmood announced that the conference on CSR will be held every year.