Philanthropy has become a new resource in a meaningful manner for the socio-economic development of Pakistan and the State Bank and the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) can cooperate on conceptualising the role of philanthropy as an alternate source of funding for socio-economic development, said Shamsh Kassim Lakha, Chairman PCP, while addressing the 5th PCP Corporate Philanthropy Awards here on Thursday.
He said that PCP's mission was 'to increase the volume and effectiveness of philanthropy' and 'to assist in linking government, business and civil society in synergistic partnerships for social development' in Pakistan. The Centre's programmes are designed to meet these objectives and supplement the government's social welfare efforts, he added.
"Pakistanis are a very generous society, ready to give whenever the need arises whether on an on going basis or in a disaster situation," he said. However, decision makers in government have rarely seen philanthropy as a resource to be harnessed in a meaningful manner for the socio-economic development of Pakistan, he added.
Talking about the philanthropy date, he said that sadly reliable statistics about individual philanthropy in the country were outdated. "They are over a decade old. They need to be updated in order to assess their true potential for investment in social assets," he added.
A research study conducted recently by PCP on behalf of the government of Punjab has confirmed that the quantum of philanthropy in that province was substantially larger than estimated, the PCP chairman revealed. Unveiling the survey, he said that with a remarkable increase of 40 percent the volume of philanthropy during the last year has risen from Rs 2.35 billion in 2009 to Rs 3.3 billion in 2010.
"In absolute numbers it represents the highest documented corporate philanthropy for a fiscal year to date. The outpouring of support for flood victims last year may well have been one reason for this surge," he added. However, according to survey as a contribution in terms of profit before income tax, the figure fell from 0.9 percent in 2010 to 0.8 percent in 2009. Compared with the base year, 2000 which is when the corporate sector, CSOs and eminent citizens of Pakistan joined together to establish the increased more than fourteen fold from Rs 228 million in 2000 to Rs 3.3 billion in 2010, he said.
During the ceremony Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Yaseen Anwar gave away the 5th PCP Corporate Philanthropy Awards to companies that are actively engaged in contributing to social development in the country. Awardees ranked top 5 for the year 2010 for the highest volume, of donations are Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Habib Bank Limited, Fauji Fertiliser Company Limited Engro Corporation Limited and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim. Awardees ranked top 5 for the year 2010 by volume of donations as a percentage of PBT are Kararm Ceramics Limited, Pakistan Services Limited, Diamond Industries Limited, Askari General Insurance Company Limited and Thatta Cement Company Limited, respectively.
Comments
Comments are closed.