The CSR Centre at the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) organized the 18th and 19th roundtable discussions on CSR Practices and Challenges in Bangladesh on April 12, 2007 and May 17, 2006. Mr. Farooq Sobhan, President of BEI, chaired the roundtables.

Speakers at the 18th and 19th roundtables included Mr. Asif Uddin Ahmed, Economic Empowerment Coordinator, CARE Bangladesh, Mr. Sabbir bin Shams, Executive Director, Advancing Public Interest Trust (APTI), Mr. Rodney Reed, Director and Company Chairman and Mrs. Anne Reed, Managing Director, Reed Consulting (Bangladesh) Ltd., and Ms. Viveka Risberg, Code of Conduct Manager, H&M Code of Conduct Department, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Mr. Ahmed said that CARE Bangladesh is constantly engaged in initiatives with the private sector, business associations and NGOs to raise awareness on the business and economic benefits of CSR implementation. The speaker also made a detailed presentation on his organization’s project in a RMG manufacturing unit (YoungOne) the Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ).

Mr. Shams from APIT stressed the need for establishing a multi-stakeholder CSR Board to promote strategic CSR and responsive business culture. He said that such initiative should be taken up at the policy level.

Mr. Rodney and Anne Reed discussed the operations of Reed Consulting (Bangladesh) Ltd., with specific reference to their recently published report on CSR, Waking the Bengal Tiger.

Ms. Viveka Risberg shared with the participants H&M’s CSR strategies and how her organization promotes responsible business practices.

With a mission to establish CSR as a key strategy for corporate excellence in Bangladesh to maximize stakeholders’ benefit, an independent CSR Centre will be formally launched at a ceremony on Wednesday September 05, 2007 at the BRAC Centre Inn, Dhaka.

For further information, please contact Iftekar Ahmed, Project Director, BEI.

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