Capital Club holds ‘Women’s Business Forum’

Capital Club Bahrain, the Kingdom’s Premier Private City Club, held the first edition of the ‘Women’s Business forum focusing on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Kingdom with an impressive line-up of speakers, attracting over 80 Club members and guests. The inaugural event was sponsored by Zain Bahrain.

Saudi-based Faten Al Yafi, who has a wealth of experience spanning over 35 years in the field of CSR, moderated the forum. The speakers included, Mona Al Moayyed, Managing Director of Y.K Almoayyed & Sons; Foutoun Hajjer, Head of Bahrain Office at Al Tamimi & Company; and Leena Al Olaimy, Co-Founder and Managing Director of 3BL Associates Consultancy.

The panel shed light on the reality of CSR in the Kingdom focusing on the importance of CSR as a growth pillar for both organizations and entrepreneurs. The panel also touched on international and regional CSR success stories.

CSR is a self-regulating policy implemented in organizations to ensure adherence to the spirit of the law, and to maintain ethical and moral standards in the way we do business. It can be taken a step further to include a ‘giving-back-to-the-community’ model, whereby implementing programs to help the environment through the reduction of an organizations ecological footprint, or assisting those less fortunate.

“Being socially responsible is a decision all corporations must take seriously; in today’s world companies must give back by empowering the society and developing the community,” said Faten Al Yafi.

As prominent women in Bahrain society, we all have a duty towards our communities and youth to be role models, and to show them that the wellbeing of our planet and people is a shared global responsibility and must not be overlooked.

Mona Al Moayed discussed the CSR strategy implemented within the Y.K. Almoayed & Sons group stressing that, “Companies in Bahrain must look at CSR as a tool to further develop the landscape of the Kingdom.”

“For us at Y. K. Almoayyed & Sons, we inherited a legacy of philanthropic activities including the construction of the Rehabilitation Centre and donating towards the Kidney Dialysis Unit at Salmaniya Hospital. That wasn’t enough – as a company we wanted to play an integral role in developing the society,” she added.

“EDMAJ was launched; a CSR initiative that focused on employee engagement by creating synergy among all companies under our group. Since then we have been able to develop the talent of our workforce and give back to the community,” she added.

Besides the obvious benefits of CSR on our communities, it also promotes customer as well as employee loyalty and pride in the organization. Conscious consumers are often willing to pay a little extra to support a socially responsible product or service. CSR is a great tool for risk management whereby organizations can avoid public scandals that could destroy its reputation overnight. It also creates brand differentiation in the market place.

With regards to developing CSR strategies; Leena Al Olaimy said “we need to look at the best practices regionally and internationally. The knowledge obtained can be cultivated to develop a unique and tailor-made approach for companies. The key is to develop a strategy that is relevant to one’s business and overall strategy.”

Further commenting on the corporate governance of CSR, Foutoun Hajjer said, “CSR is an essential part of the business and the Middle East region must develop policies and governance that allows the growth of this practice.”

The panel discussion was followed by a debate focusing on the difference between CSR and charity, after which a workshop was conducted on ‘how to develop CSR strategies’. The workshop was delivered by Mrs Al Yafi.

Capital Club's ‘Women’s Business forum’ aims to provide a platform for women in the Kingdom to discuss pressing and current economic and business issues. The Capital Club aims to host the event on an annual basis.

“Our first event was a huge success; such insightful discussions and debates highlight our aim to position the Club as the leading meeting point for business minds and a great opportunity for our Members to network and meet, said Capital Club Bahrain’s General Manager, Dina Haikel.