Malaysia
Being good corporate citizen won't dent earnings, firms told
By Business Times, NST
Sep 22, 2006, 10:52

Companies can be a good corporate citizen and contribute to the well-being of society without making a dent in their earnings, Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said.

"We believe good CSR (corporate social responsibility) practices are not at the expense of profit.

"Statistics have shown that the more companies practise CSR, the more profitable they are," he said.

He said CSR would become increasingly important as the private sector would be the country's engine of growth and the Government wants to approach its ties with the private sector on a mutual trust basis.

"We want to trust companies for being compliant to the rules and are transparent.

"In the future, we will give approvals first, and check later," Nor Mohamed told the media after his speech at the 21st World Congress of Savings Banks in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"We are moving towards the mutual trust direction and want to trust you, unless it is proven that you cannot be trusted," he said.

The Minister called upon companies to consider meaningful projects like adopting a school or encouraging their employees to volunteer in charitable homes in their free time.

Earlier, he said savings banks have to remain innovative in their products and services by exploring new ways of doing business and responding effectively to the different financing and development requirements.

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