CSR symposium attracts global business leaders

By Kim Tong-hyung

The South Korean office of the United Nations (UN) Global Compact held an international symposium on corporate social responsibility (CSR) Friday that was attended by around 200 business leaders from here and abroad.

The event, jointly hosted with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Institute for Sustainable Development, was organized to share views on the increasing role of CSR in the business strategies of local companies looking to go global.

The participants also discussed CSR-related issues that are to be debated in the Group of 20 meetings that are slated for November in Seoul.

Companies are now beginning to consider CSR as more than just a glorified public relations tool but as a crucial business strategy, according to officials at the Global Compact Korea Network, and CSR becomes critical for companies attempting to enter new foreign markets and gain acceptability there.

There is also an increasing awareness among Korean companies to improve their CSR-related activities, according to Lee Seung-han, the chief executive of retail chain Home Plus and president of the Global Compact Korea Network.

``The corporate spending related to CSR around the world is now amounting to 9000 trillion won (about $8 trillion) and it’s time for Korean companies and investors to be less passive about these issues,’’ Lee said during a keynote speech.

Sohn Kyung-shik, the president of the KCCI, predicted that the Korean commitment toward CSR will improve dramatically after the G20 meetings, as CSR is one of the topics to be debated in the Seoul Business Summit of global CEOs that will be held on the sidelines of the meetings between world leaders.

Also attending the event was Huh Joon-young, president of state-run rail operator KORAIL, Leon Kamhi, executive director of Hermes Equity Ownership Service, Lee Kyung-hoon, senior vice president of steelmaker POSCO and Ju Chul-ki, secretary general of Global Compact Korea Network.

The Global Compact is the U.N. initiative launched in 2000 to encourage companies worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies. The member companies agree to adopt 10 core principles on human rights, labor, environmental and anti-corruption standards, and are required to report annually on their progress.

Nearly 8,000 companies from 130 countries are now joined together under the Global Compact, which includes South Korean firms and organizations like SK Telecom, SK Energy, KT, STX and Hyundai Motor.