Japanese business conglomerates want to undertake and develop corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in Bangladesh as the local emerging market is becoming increasingly important to them. Ryoji Chubachi, vice-chairman of Sony Corporation of Japan, said yesterday his country's Council for Better Corporate Citizenship (CBCC) has recently focused its efforts on studying worldwide trends in CSR. Chubachi was addressing a group of businessmen of Bangladesh and Japan at a meeting at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka. The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) arranged the meeting to discuss the CSR practices and bilateral business issues between the two countries.
Chairman of CBCC of Japan and leader of the visiting delegation, Chubachi said the goal of these endeavours is to help the Japanese companies fulfil their CSR duties as outstanding corporate citizens and forge healthy relationships with their stakeholders. "Furthermore, some western and Japanese corporations have already built win-win relationships with the local community through development assistance and business engagement such as microfinance." The CBCC will dispatch its CSR dialogue mission to Bangladesh and India to deepen its understanding of CSR their, he added. Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said Japan could be the model for the development of Bangladesh. CSR is a good practice, he said. The businessmen bring out money from their pockets to serve the society through practising the CSR, Khan said. "Generally, the businessmen only put money into their pockets.""I believe there is tremendous potential for investment in Bangladesh by the Japanese investors," said Executive Chairman of the Board of Investment SA Samad. Japan can favour Bangladesh because the Japanese government has already adopted the “China + one” business policy pursuing which the investors are now looking for other countries too in addition to China. Bangladesh has a strong middle class consumer society, which is also a good element for attracting foreign direct investment, he said. Azad urged the Japanese entrepreneurs to invest in pharmaceuticals, frozen foods, ceramic products, woven and knitwear, innovative renewable energy solution, setting up information technology parks, general industrial parks and private export processing zones. He said Bangladesh is now exporting pharmaceuticals products to over 80 countries, ceramic products to 65 countries, frozen foods to 40 countries and woven garment and knitwear to about 120 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. "We need Japanese support to produce quality products employing new technology and at competitive prices," Azad added.
News Source : The Daily Star