The General Union of Arab Chambers Honors Abu-Ghazaleh for his Dedication in Consolidating Concept of Social Responsibility
Al-Haj Hassan: the World Should Do its Duty and Not What is Desirable
BEIRUT, Watanieh ---- The General Union of Chambers of Trade, Industry, and Agriculture for Arab Countries (GUCCIAAC) honored Chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property, Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, at the opening of the “Social Responsibility of the Arab Chambers, Banks, and Companies" Forum which was held at GUCCIAAC's Headquarter under the patronage of Minister of Industry, Dr. Hussein Al-Haj Hassan, and in collaboration with Lebanese Standards Institution- LIBNOR.
The opening was attended by Minister of Industry Mr. Al-Haj Hassan, the Former Ministers: Mr. Freij Sabouni, and Mr. Khaled Kabbani, the Honorary President of GUCCIAAC, Mr. Adnan Kassar, Mr. Ibrahim Shams-Eddin, Director of the National News Agency, Ms. Laure Sleiman Saab, President of National Dialogue Party, Mr. Fouad Makhzoumi, Member of the Christian- Muslim Committee for Dialogue, Mr. Mohammad Al-Sammak, and more than 150 official and economic Arab and Lebanese personalities.
At the outset of the event, the National Anthem was performed followed by the speech of the Honorary President of GUCCIAAC and the former Minister, Mr. Adnan Kassar in which he said, "Today, in light of unprecedented events this region is experiencing, we, as Arab private sector, need to be prepared to undertake social responsibility and advance the economy towards serving humans and properly developing humanity".
He added," Since I started my career, I feel responsible for the community which helps us achieve our professional objectives, and I have always been keen on consolidating the culture of social responsibility whether in my private business or in the institutions that I have headed. We, at Fransabank Group, were one of the first Lebanese institutions to introduce the concept of social responsibility".
He also stated, "Being the President of the International Chamber of Commerce during the period from 1999 to 2000, I had the opportunity to convince the international business community to adopt the (Global Compact) which was signed by the General Secretary of the United Nations at that time Mr. Kofi Annan, and myself. The Global Compact urges the private sector and business institutions to develop their strategies in harmony with fundamental principles regarding human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption".
Vice President of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists, Mr. George Nassrawi stated," Lebanon is experiencing a national socioeconomic crisis where everything around us is collapsing; human is collapsing, our economy is bleeding, stability is threatened, social justice and human dignity are in regression. For this reason, we need to work to reduce the suffering of Lebanese citizens and to make a safety net that protect the social stability which in turn helps the economic grow and the society unite."
He added, "The Association of Lebanese Industrialists gives great importance to social responsibility, we understand that the reasons for great crises, social crises in specific, are that the capital becomes a monster and the economy is built by using humans and not by serving humans.”
The Chairman of Lebanese Standards Institution- LIBNOR, Mr. Habib Ghaziri also gave a speech in which he said, "We, at the Lebanese Standards Institution, are aware of the importance of the social responsibility, so we have implemented the standard ISO 26000, developed a clear work plan that covers all aspect of the said standard, and trained a number of national experts."
Chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization, Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh pointed out that the social responsibility is the embodiment of a good partnership between the good company and the good citizen for the benefit of the community, it is also a way in which citizens and companies express their gratitude to the community.
He said, "Social responsibility means to integrate social values and considerations in the daily activities and business strategies so that they become the practical conscience, this fact is proved by Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization’s experience.”
Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh explained," social responsibility is a means to achieve economic balance within a community, moreover, it is established for this purpose, and there is no point in criticizing those who do their social duties and benefit morally and promotionally, yet, critics should do their duties and benefit directly or indirectly.
At the end, the patron of the ceremony; Dr, Hussein Al-Haj Hassan pointed out," we insist that we should continue to build in spite of the difficult circumstances the region has been witnessing."
He added," when speaking about social responsibility, we should not ignore the daily Israeli attacks against Gaza and Lebanon, nor should we ignore the danger of the Takfiri terrorism which did not come from nothing and had killed and displaced thousands of people before the international community recognized its danger. Till now no crucial decisions have been made to stop these criminal groups."
He hoped that presidential void ends soon and called to stop disrupting the work of the Chamber of Deputies in order conduct the interests of the citizens and the State".
He also asked," is it acceptable that, in the twenty first century, we suffer from darkness, poverty, unemployment, hunger?" he pointed out that the best definition of social responsibility is expressed by doing the desirable acts we conduct after doing our duties. We need to do due responsibilities and we need to start from the State's institutions through to the private sector, because the role of the private sector will not be influential and effective unless the State conducts its duties and vice versa. This fact applies to all countries".
He continued," when we talk about social responsibility, we should state facts; it is not acceptable that half of the Arabs are illiterate, quarter of them are under the subsistence level and not the poverty line, where the national exports are one third if not half of the world's oil".
He pointed out that the number of hungry people is increasing and has reached a number between a billion and a billion and 200 million people, and that the gap between the North and the South is getting bigger and bigger, while the arms expenditures exceed two thousands billion dollars a year. Based on this fact, we should blame the leaders of the world who speak in public about the finest humanitarian principles while they do not bother to implement these principles".
He concluded," the world should do its duty and not what is desired. If the world had done its duty, we would not have come to where we are now; poverty, illiteracy, and destruction".
During the Forum, Mr. Kassar presented Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh with an honorary shield in recognition of his role in enhancing and consolidating the concept of social responsibly through his institutions and leading initiatives which serve the Arab society.
In turn, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh presented Mr. Kassar with an honorary shield in recognition of his extraordinary role in the field of social responsibility and in serving the Arab economy and the Lebanese economy in specific.
LIBNOR presented Minister of Industry, Dr. Hessein Al-Haj with an honorary shield. While representatives of chambers, banks, sponsors and supporters were presented with honorary shields.
The Forum included three working sessions in which elite of academic economic Lebanese and Arab figures participated in.
The first working session was the "Arab Chambers' Role in Supporting the Culture, Policies and Practices of Social Responsibility", the second one was the "Social Responsibility and the Role of Arab Banks", while the last session was entitled the "Role of the Companies in Consolidating the Concept of Social Responsibility".
At the end of the Forum, the recommendations regarding consolidating the concept of social responsibility in the Arab institutions, chambers, companies, and banks were announced.
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