ASEAN CSR Network: January 2018 Newsletter

Promoting and enabling
responsible business conduct in ASEAN

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​Singapore leads ASEAN towards resilience and innovation in 2018

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​​Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong officially launched the the country's ASEAN 2018 chairmanship during Experience ASEAN festival, held on 12-14 January 2018. The theme for this year's chairmanship is Resilient and Innovative, meant to capture Singapore's aspirations to create a united region amidst growing uncertainties around the world. The focus for 2018 is to harness opportunities and manage challenges from disruptive digital technologies, equip citizens with skills to build a future-ready ASEAN, and boost the region's capabilities to make smarter cities.

With the new doors opened by Singapore's leadership, ACN continues to strive to promote responsible business practices in ASEAN with its network of members and supporters, in the firm belief that the private sector can greatly contribute to socio-economic and environmental improvements in the region.
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Learn more about ASEAN 2018 here.
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Swedish, Filipino companies champion responsible business at Manila conference

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In an effort to strengthen the call for responsible business practices, a conference was co-hosted by the Embassy of Sweden in Manila, the ASEAN CSR Network, and the League of Corporate Foundations on 17 January 2018 at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel in Manila, Philippines. Entitled "Fostering CSR in the Philippines: Conference on Responsible Business", the event was a full-day conference to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a means for companies to mitigate, as well as address, social and environmental challenges.
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Read more here.

• ​ASEAN CSR Fellowship updates
• ACN supports HRRC's Summer Institute 2017 

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Indonesian government will be strengthening environmental impact assessment, a prerequisite for any development project that may affect the environment. Known as AMDAL, this move hopes to address disputes stemming from current practice that involves conflict of interests between hired assessors and project developers, and other illegal activities. While the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar did not specify the exact changes to be made in the assessment, a commitment to review and improve the process was made clear.
 

Read more from Mongabay here.

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At the World Economic Forum in Davos, businesses discussed possibilities to adapt to climate change, dispelling the myth of a negative effect of responsible practices into investments. Company representatives in attendance called climate change as "next century’s biggest financial and business opportunity," by opening avenues to invest in new and innovative technologies and practices. Recognizing the role of business in addressing climate change, they also encouraged supporting companies that have a strong environmental agenda.
 

Read more from Reuters here.

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Vietnam's 2015 Penal Code took effect on the 1st of January 2018. This New Penal Code aims to expand the country's anti-corruption efforts. Among the amendments made to the previous version are the qualification of corporate liability for certain crimes, such as tax evasion and money laundering; and the inclusion of corporate-related offences to the private sector, including embezzlement, receiving bribes, giving bribes and bribery brokerage to those working in the private sector.​
 

Read more from Global Compliance News here.

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Corporate Knights released the results for the 2018 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World index. France's Dassault Systemes tops the list, with 2 more French companies making it to the top 10 (Valeo, and Amundi). South Korea's Samsung is  the only Asian country that was ranked among the top 10. ACN's corporate partner, Intel, headquartered in the United States, managed to take the top 26th spot. The South East Asian country with the highest rank is Singtel from Singapore, which was ranked top 63.
 

See the full results here.
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