KARACHI – The Consul General of Switzerland in Karachi Didier Boschung, organised an event for the heads of the Bilateral Business Forums in Karachi to introduce them to the UN Global Compact Pakistan Local Network (UNGCPLN).
The event was attended by Business Forums of Switzerland, Japan, Belgium, USA, France, Thailand, Russia, Sri Lanka and the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Introducing the UN Global Compact to the audience, the Swiss envoy said that it was launched in 2000 with the United Nations Global Compact being both a policy platform and a practical framework for companies that are committed to sustainability and responsible business practices.
As a multi stakeholder leadership initiative, it seeks to align business operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and corruption. Regarding the involvement of Switzerland in promoting the UN Global Compact, he stated that Switzerland has a special relation with the Global Compact when this initiative was first launched in February 1999 in Davos.
He expressed happiness that what had started more than 10 years ago as a visionary idea, has in time become the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative, with over 8,000 signatories – including businesses and civil society – based in more than 130 countries. He also informed that the Swiss government is funding a two-year programme in Pakistan to bolster significant principals through the Global Compact Pakistan Local Network as well as strengthening the local network to particularly allow an increase in engagements with local businesses, while continuing to work towards a stronger involvement with the subsidiaries of international companies the promotion of corporate responsibility principals through value or supply chains.
At the same time, he believes that mobilisation of local Small and Medium size Enterprises (SME) makes sense as they are integrated in the supply chains of transnational companies and reflect local culture. With regards to the involvement of the Swiss Companies operating in Pakistan, he said that the Swiss Business Council in Karachi has signed in August 2010 a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Global Compact Pakistan Local Network to collaborate in promoting 10 principles of UN Global Compact among their business partners and supply chain in Pakistan.
The Swiss Consul General sees an important role of the Global Compact in the field of Corporate Responsibility and therefore an even stronger engagement of its Local Networks to successfully promote the 10 principals of the Global Compact. After a brief introduction by the Swiss Consul General, the Secretary General of UNGCPLN, Fasiul Karim Siddiqi and Ahsanullah Khan, UNGCPLN President, gave a detailed presentation on the Global Compact and its activities in Pakistan.
They invited the business forums to use their influence by engaging member companies and supply chains in supporting local efforts to promote and boost UN Global Compact Principles in Pakistan.
