HKPC launches “Hong Kong Corporate Citizenship Program” and publishes 1st Hong Kong CSR Index for SMEs

With corporate social responsibility (CSR) becoming recognized as a key element for enhancing corporate image and competitiveness of businesses internationally, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) announced today (8 April 2010) the launch of the “Hong Kong Corporate Citizenship Program” to raise awareness of corporate citizenship among local enterprises and to assist them in adopting it as their business strategies.

The launching ceremony of the program was officiated by Ms Grace Lui, Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs of the HKSAR Government; Mr Clement Chen, Chairman of HKPC; Ms Melissa Pang, Member of the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education (CPCE); and Mr Alex Lee, Chief Operating Officer of Bank of China (Hong Kong).

Mr Clement Chen said, “The key to enterprise’s long term success and sustainable development is to take up corporate citizenship responsibility. As such, promoting CSR has become an important mission for HKPC to enhance the competitiveness of local enterprises. Leveraging HKPC’s industry network, the ‘Hong Kong Corporate Citizenship Program’ will provide a platform for different organizations to share their best practices in CSR and promote a wider adoption among the business community.“

Mr Chen said, "We hope that enterprises can establish their civic responsibility values for incorporation in their operation and business strategies. Ultimately, enterprises will promote the concept to their employees, family members, customers and the public."

The "Hong Kong Corporate Citizenship Program”, which was sponsored by CPCE and Bank of China (Hong Kong), comprises a series of activities including "The Hong Kong Outstanding Corporate Citizenship Award" to recognize the outstanding CSR achievements of organizations from five different sectors including service sector, manufacturing sector, SMEs, non-profit making organizations and corporate volunteer team; seminars and workshops; the "Hong Kong Corporate Citizenship Slogan Competition" and "Hong Kong Corporate Citizenship Education Exhibition".

After the launch, HKPC and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University jointly announced the results of the inaugural “Hong Kong SME CSR Index”, which was derived from assessing the CSR performance of SMEs from the perspectives of six sectors, including employees, customers, investors, suppliers, community and the environment.

Over 130 SMEs from 20 industries participated in the study which found that the mean score of Hong Kong SMEs’ CSR index was 76 (maximum being 100). In terms of the six sectors, CSR performance related to “Employees” received the highest score (84), followed by "Customers" (83), "Investors" (77), "Suppliers" (73), "Community" (70) and "Environment" (68).

As a strong advocate of CSR, HKPC supported its staff to participate in community service and apply their professional knowledge to good causes through the establishment of “HKPC Volunteers” in 2008. With generous sponsorship from the industry, “HKPC Volunteers” initiated the “Toys Bank” which had successfully solicited the supports from local toys manufacturers and the assistance from various social welfare organizations in donating toys to underprivileged children and families. In the business level, HKPC is also committed to promoting CSR in industry with the launch of the CSRCARE Programme in 2009, which aims at assisting enterprises to implement ISO 26000 international standards.

For further information on the “Hong Kong Corporate Citizenship Program” and “Hong Kong SME CSR Index”, please visit the program website (www.hkcorporatecitizenship.com) or contact HKPC’s Brenda Lam and Irene Kan respectively at tel. (852) 2788 6151, email: brendal@hkpc.org; and tel. (852) 2788 5798, email: irenekan@hkpc.org; For other media enquiries, please contact Justina Shum at tel. (852) 2788 5895 or email: justina@hkpc.org.

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Mr Jonathan Ho
General Manager
Corporate Communications
Tel: (852) 2788 6390
Fax: (852) 2788 5056
Email: jonathanho@hkpc.org
Website: www.hkpc.org

(From left to right) Ms Melissa Pang, Member of the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education; Mr Clement Chen, Chairman of HKPC; Ms Grace Lui, Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs of the HKSAR Government; and Mr Alex Lee, Chief Operating Officer of Bank of China (Hong Kong) launches the “Hong Kong Corporate Citizenship Program”

Mr Clement Chen, Chairman of HKPC, introduces the “Hong Kong Corporate Citizenship Program”

Mr Raymond Cheng, General Manager (Business Management) of HKPC, (right) and Professor Carlos Lo of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University announce the results of the inaugural “Hong Kong SME CSR Index”