Promoting and enabling
responsible business conduct in ASEAN

ASEAN-BAC and ACN advance
responsible and inclusive business agenda

The ASEAN Responsible Business Forum was held from 27 to 28 August 2018 in Singapore. This flagship event of the ASEAN CSR Network aims to enhance understanding of the role of responsible and inclusive business in creating an inclusive, resilient and sustainable ASEAN community.
 

Read more here.

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ASEAN Working Group on Business Integrity meets on the sidelines of the ASEAN Responsible Business Forum 

The ASEAN Working Group on Business Integrity convened in a coordination meeting on 28 August 2018 at Concorde Hotel, Singapore. The closed-door meeting, which was conducted as a side event to the ASEAN Responsible Business Forum, was supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
 

Read more here.
 

ACN and SHIFT hold consultations to better measure business respect for human rights

A Valuing Respect Project Consultation was held on 29 August 2018 at Concorde Hotel, Singapore in collaboration with SHIFT. This was the first ASEAN region meeting for the recently launched Valuing Respect Project, which aims to develop better ways to evaluate business respect for human rights. 
 

Read more here.
 

ACN attends ASEAN-BAC joint Business Council Meeting as sector champion for
Responsible and Inclusive Business 

ASEAN CSR Network (ACN), represented by Mr Thomas Thomas, CEO of ACN, attended the ASEAN Business Advisory Council’s (ASEAN-BAC) joint Business Council Meeting as sector champion for Responsible and Inclusive Business on 28 August 2018.

In March 2018, ACN was appointed the sector champion for Responsible and Inclusive Business with ASEAN-BAC, whose mandate is to provide private sector feedback and guidance to boost ASEAN efforts towards economic integration. 

Read more here.
 

Business Integrity project launched
with UK Prosperity Fund

As an implementing partner, ASEAN CSR Network attended the High-Level Launch of the United Nations Development Programme Regional Project “Promoting a Fair Business Environment in ASEAN” on 23 August 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Spearheaded by the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office under its new Prosperity Fund, the project aims to foster inclusive growth, prevent corruption, and promote sustainable business practices in ASEAN, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. 
 

Read more here.

ACN Chair speaks at ASEAN Forum on
Women's Economic Empowerment

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Ms Yanti Triwadiantini, Chair of ASEAN CSR Network spoke at a panel session on “Shaping Corporate Culture for Women Leadership Development” at the ASEAN Forum on Women’s Economic Empowerment held in Singapore from 27 to 28 August 2018. Speakers for the panel session explored how businesses can shape a resilient and innovative corporate culture that encourages and supports leadership development for women at all levels.

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Read more here.

ACN participates in regional seminar on
private sector bribery prevention

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ASEAN CSR Network participated in the Regional Seminar on Effective Measures for the Private Sector to Prevent Bribery held from 2 to 3 August 2018 in Pattaya, Thailand.

The seminar was jointly organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, National Anti-Corruption Commission Thailand, Thailand's Private Sector Collective Action Coalition Against Corruption, and American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative.
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Read more here.

ACN attends launch of Business Alliance for Prosperity for All at Malacanang Palace, Philippines

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ACN attended the Launch of the Pilipinas Angat Lahat Alliance on 14 August 2018 at Malacanang Palace, Philippines. The Launch was graced by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, among other senior officials, government officials, members of the Alliance partners, state ambassadors, mentors and entrepreneurs.

The Alliance seeks to pursue inclusive growth by creating an enabling and sustainable business environment for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through the development of programmes anchored on Mentorship, Money and Markets to propel MSMEs toward prosperity for all. 
 

Read more from the ASEAN Business Advisory Council Philippines here.
 

At the ASEAN Forum on Women’s Economic Empowerment held on 27-28 August in Singapore, President of the Republic of Singapore Madam Halimah Yacob noted that in order to tap into ASEAN’s full economic potential, ASEAN needed to do more to harness the potential of women who make up half of the region’s population.  She also said that in order for women to progress and contribute at work and in society, there was a need to have a shift in mindset on how women in various stages of life were treated in employment, as well as perceptions of caregiving responsibilities at home.
 

Read more from ASEAN Secretariat here.

 
More than 3,000 people in Vietnam, most of them women and children, were trafficked between 2012 and 2017, many of them into China, said Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security, as parliament sought to tighten laws to tackle the problem.
 

Lowering the use of plastic bags and single-use plastic products and adopting more natural-made materials are some of the latest practices being pushed by the government to promote green tourism in Thailand.
 

Read more from Bangkok Post here.

 
Malaysia is set to launch a major crackdown on undocumented migrant workers after the end of a scheme on Friday that allowed them to turn themselves in, but critics say human trafficking victims could be wrongly targeted instead.
 

Read more from Thomson Reuters foundation here.
 

A “Practical Guide” to enable companies to better measure and report on their impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was released by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the United Nations Global Compact.
 

Read more from United Nations Global Compact here.

 
The UN human rights chief urged Facebook Wednesday to more proactively address hate speech but warned against excessive regulation, after US President Donald Trump accused tech giants' platforms of bias against him.
 

Read more from Bangkok Post here.

 
Over the next 30 years, manual labourers in the agriculture, mining, oil and gas, and manufacturing sectors - which are the most prevalent in emerging economies - will be hardest hit by higher temperatures, said risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.
 

Read more from Thomson Reuters foundation here.

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