As part of his participation in the Omani Forum for Partnership and Social Responsibility

Al-Salami;

• The Commission supports the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) since 2002 and the Code of Corporate Governance 2015, which defines the bases of practice

• The Oman Center for Governance and Sustainability is currently working on the formulation of a national framework for social responsibility that defines sustainable policies.

 

H.E. Abdullah Al Salemi, Executive President of the Capital Market Authority and Chairman of the Oman Center for Corporate Governance and Sustainability, said that the Center is currently working on a draft of a national framework for social responsibility that outlines its principles, guidelines and directions, including the mechanisms for establishing national policies for sustainability and periodic review of their content. The draft also includes drafting and issuing a code for corporate social responsibility. The project has two main goals: the development of a unified, specific and clearly defined national framework, which deals with national policies related to sustainability, and approved mechanisms the main components of the policies. The second goal is to define a roadmap for the Center to enable it to carry out its tasks in this regard and to provide assistance to various entities and companies.

This was stated in the opening statement of the Oman Forum for Partnership and Social Responsibility, explaining that the private sector plays an active and constructive role in the development of its local society and for the incorporation of good citizenship practices by businesses.

Al Salmi stressed that  His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, has emphasized on the importance of this matter in a very early time than now  for more than 27 years. His Majesty affirmed during his meeting with members of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry in February 1990 on the importance of spreading awareness among traders and industrialists in many fields; including their role in cooperating with the government to implement the development programs in the best way, urging them to "the need to increase their contribution not only in economic development but also in social development."

 

On the efforts of the Capital Market Authority (CMA), he noted that CMA has participated since 2002 in a number of initiatives to encourage and regulate corporate social responsibility, and culminated in the year 2015 by issuing the Code of Corporate Governance for Public Stock Companies, which contains special principles focusing on social responsibility and the primary principles for regulating them. Some of the characteristics and objectives of corporate social responsibility are highlighted, distinctly that social responsibility practices derive from the business objectives of the business, and are linked to their activities, and that their practices seek to reduce the negative impacts on the economy, society or the environment. The company also undertakes establishing and adopting a specific and determined social responsibility policy that clarifies the values and priorities that aim at strengthening them, and the fields in which it implements social responsibility. The policy shall also Point to the budget allocated for these fields, in addition to include the size of the contribution and role played in relation to social responsibility in the annual report of companies to clarify the impact achieved in reality, and the amounts allocated for social responsibility. He explained that the Code enabled companies to choose the appropriate methodology and strategy freely to meet the requirements of social responsibility, and did not determine a specific form for the annual report supposed to be submitted by these institutions, but merely mentioned the minimum information that is supposed to be submitted to CMA.

 

H.E. cited Executive Chief Officer of Ford Company; William Ford’s quote “Creating a strong business and building a better world are not two opposite goals but are rather essential components of long-term success." And Winston Churchill says what can be translated in "responsibility is synonymous with greatness; each generates the other” , and hence we see that  major institutions handle major tasks and responsibilities, and similarly institutions that undertake major tasks and responsibilities grow, develop and become major institutions.

 

Therefore, it is important to note at the beginning of this forum that corporate social responsibility is not just money or donations made by the institution as a kind of benevolence or charity. It is even greater. It is primarily thought and institutional culture, which is integrated into the operational strategies. It is also a broad and significant management concept that looks forward to implementation and translates it into institutionalized live behavior, in order to achieve the sustainability goal of the society "first" and then of the institution operating in it.

He referred to the most recent studies conducted by the University of Cambridge recently involving 19 countries and covered about 4,000 institutions that carry out their social responsibility. The definition of social responsibility is "the group of voluntary practices undertaken by the founder to serve a social purpose without legal bounds or any legal requirements”, with emphasizing that these practices are linked to the purposes of these institutions and their operational processes or the reality of their surrounding community.

 

This definition is consistent with the definition of ISO 26000, which is the international standard of social responsibility, which places social responsibility in the context of the institutional responsibility towards the impacts of its decisions and activities in society and the environment, and requires the institution to deal with them with transparency and ethical behaviour, so that the institution would contribute to sustainable development, and achieve preservation of environment, culture, identity and morals. Institutions would also contribute to the society’s well-being and to take into account the expectations of related parties, including consumers, employees, suppliers, owners, governments and others. Institutions would also commit to international standards and apply them transparently and impartially, and integrate this behaviour and orientation into all their operations and practices.

 

The concept of social responsibility, as we have explained above, intersects the concepts of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). This initiative sets standards and procedures for measuring initiatives and actions by institutions that may fall within the framework of their social responsibility. The role of this initiative may be limited to clarifying the basis for designing and reporting on CSR activities in periodic reports, which will then enable  public assessment, accountability and accountability.

 

In terms of the actual application of the principles and concepts of social responsibility and sustainability, H.E. talked about the experience of the Scandinavian countries, one of the leading countries in this field, can be seen as the basis of their practices and their development in the field of corporate social responsibility. The practices and developments of these countries focused on involving concerned parties and stakeholders at all levels which creates a shared value among the parties that is maintained and adhered to by all.

 

This responsibility should be adopted by institutions across all stages of their planning, operational and behavioral processes. These institutions should pursue and adopt the principles of social responsibility to achieve "good citizenship", thereby contributing to sustainable economic development and contributing to the promotion of ethical values and community practices that serve societies and ensure their sustainability, which is considered as an initiative stemming from the responsible persons of these institutions that the society that gave their institutions the required legitimacy to carry out its work and achieve its objectives, deserve in return to give the society back recognition of its right and ensure its sustainability without which the sustainability of the institution will not be achieved; therefore social responsibility of business enterprises is the main component of the concept of ‘sustainability’.

 

H.E. pointed out that many countries have developed national frameworks, codes of ethics and social responsibility directives, which placed social resposibility at the highest planning and operational priorities, and helps individuals and institutions to integrate this concept and apply it in reality.

Over the past years, CMA has worked closely with a number of joint stock companies, state-owned companies and leading family businesses to integrate social responsibility into the management philosophy of these institutions as a key component of their strategic plans and orientations towards sustainability.