Entrepreneurs urged to perform social responsibilities
UNB
Experts at a conference yesterday urged entrepreneurs to perform their due social responsibilities while doing business to improve the socioeconomic environment of local communities, reports UNB. The purpose of business is to make money, they said, but the businessmen have some responsibilities to local communities as well as its employees to ensure a socio-environmental sustainability in business. Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGCCI) organised the fourth Global Social Responsibility Conference 2016 at a hotel in the capital yesterday. With the theme Aid to Trade: Better World, Safer Generation, this years GSR conference offers both Bangladesh and German entrepreneurs new opportunities of discussing more up-to-date possibilities of increasing social and economic growth simultaneously.
German Ambassador in Dhaka Dr Thomas Prinz said charity is an integrated concept of economic behaivour. This means to do something good for their community by supporting schools, hospitals and like that, and such charity has always existed around the world, he added.
Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamun said these days social responsibility is very important in business. Now the mindset of people is changing fast as theyre struggling to ensure human rights and social justice to all, he said.
To do so, Mamun said, the government provides about 2.5 percent of the countrys GDP (Tk 32,000 crore) to social safety net programmes.
This is a huge amount for a least developed country like Bangladesh.
About success in RMG sector, he said Bangladesh has already established the international standard compliance in developing the garment sector.
Charge d Affaires of the EU delegation in Dhaka Frederic Maduraud said Bangladesh needs to improve working condition, labour rights and factory safety in the RMG sector to address the challenges in regaining the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) in the US market.
The EUs GSP also allows the exporters of developing countries to pay less or no duty on their exports to the EU, he added.
Head of Taskforce Economy and Human Rights of German Foreign Office Hans Christian Winkler and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BEXIMCO Ltd Syed Naved Husain, among others, spoke at the conference.
