Large Romanian companies have allocated a community investment budget (CSR budget), but, in general, the community investment budget line is placed in the PR or Marketing department, while only 5 percent of companies have a sustainable development budget, Oana Iacob, Government relations manager at Japan Tobacco International (JTI), member of The American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham Romania), said on Tuesday, quoting data of internal studies, on the occasion of “Community Investment Guide” launch event.
“Currently, 69 percent of large companies in Romania reported to have corporate social responsibility budgets, below the EU average of 73 percent, but much better than in 2007, when these were of only 23 percent. AmCham Romania member companies have an average budget for social responsibility projects of about EUR 50,000, so that the total value of these budgets amounts to over EUR 20 million,” JTI representative said.
In his turn, attending the event, Dean Thompson, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Department of State, said that “CSR programs are vital – there is a strong linkage between economic prosperity, respect for human rights and good corporate citizenship. As President Barack Obama said <Government and businesses have mutual responsibilities; and … if we fulfill these obligations together, it benefits us all.>”
He remembered that in 2013, the U.S. honored Coca Cola Hellenic Romania as one of the twelve finalists for the award based on its environmental conservation, environmental education, and recycling programs in Romania.
“But CSR goes beyond the economic realm and so does our work. Our Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor’s (DRL’s) offices of International Labor Affairs, Internet Freedom, and Business and Human Rights work with companies, civil society — including unions and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) — and governments to implement policies that respect human and labor rights and maximize positive contributions to global development. We engage stakeholders on practical challenges at the intersection of business and human rights and on leading U.S. government efforts to implement the United Nations (U.N.) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,” U.S. Embassy in Bucharest representative noted.
According to him, CSR programs highlight and underscore the notion that all companies must be good corporate citizens. Corporations, through an ethical, doing good for all approach, contribute to the growth and development of the local economy. Also, innovative CSR programs have wide ranging impact, Dean Thompson pointed out.
AmCham Romania’s “Community Investment Guide” is a useful tool for companies operating on Romania’s market and are interested in the active role and responsibility undertaken by the business sector with regard to the society. The guidelines are based on best practices through the collaborative expertise of the AmCham Romania members and of some of the largest companies in the world, widely recognized for their community involvement, adding thus to the previously published list of documents (AmCham Romania’s ‘Code of Corporate Governance’ and ‘Anti-Corruption Guidelines’).
The Community Investment Guide presents the legal framework, explaining the importance of community investments and providing statistical data regarding this issue on a global level as well as in Romania, while also incorporating several recommendations concerning each step of the process for defining and implementing the investment in community policy: from criteria establishment, and partners’ selection, to project management, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
The guide also aims to support economic actors, from large companies to state enterprises and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who understand that social responsibility is not a cost, but a strategic investment in the community, in the company and in its employees.