Members representing the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) committee of the Gulf smelters met in Qatar on the 4th of March 2014.
The first meeting of its kind on CSR was hosted by Qatalum's Communication Manager, Ibrahim Fakhri and was attended by representatives from Ma'aden, Alba, Sohar and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA). The meeting was chaired by the elected chairperson for the smelter CSR initiative, Mohammad Yahya from EGA.
From Left to Right: Ibrahim Fakhri, Communication Manager – Qatalum; Abdulrahman Al Qudairy, CSR and Communications Manager- Ma'aden; Saieed Al Jabri, CSR and Communications Manager – Sohar; Nabil Al Jaljallabi, Manager, Reduction Lines 123 – Alba; Mohammad Yahya, Corporate Relations and International Affairs Manager – EGA; Abdulraheem Al Hashemi, Communication Corporate Manager - Emal
On the agenda was the establishment of a mission, vision and guidelines for the Gulf smelter association (GAC) CSR Committee that would enable its joint future business direction. The deadline set was the 20th of March 2014.
Some of the key values for the Gulf smelter – CSR guidelines were that they followed international norms and pay attention to local requirements with respect to the large export markets for GAC alloy products. In particular, it was decided to suggest that the GAC smelters begin the practice of dedicating a percentage of profits to CSR activities as is the norm in for many global companies.
Qatalum's Communication Manager believes that a combined effort towards CSR in this growing region will allow for the rest of the world to recognising the sustainable efforts placed by smelters in the Gulf to become globally competitive in all aspects of their business.
This sentiment was echoed by the committee as they discussed issues on marketing a joint CSR strategy by the GAC. The need for a collective effort in branding, marketing and advertising would furthering the efforts done by individual companies in the region. Both the GAC and ARABAL, along with exhibitions, conferences and day to day communications activities would play a part as vehicles for GAC - CSR.
Final notes were made on the dedicated budget to be approved by the GAC board by the next meeting in May 2014.
