Because social responsibility is an obligation to the country and the society and not simply a matter of charity work to be added to the workload of companies, Saudi Aramco took the initiative to organize the first Forum for Social Responsibility in the Kingdom, held Feb. 1 in the Conference Plaza Center. The theme for the corporate social responsibility (CSR) event was “Cooperate to Participate.”

The forum was praised by attendees, including HRH Princess Bandari Al Faisal, director general of the King Khalid Charitable Foundation.

“I found the gathering very beneficial in terms of the people who were gathered here, and I hope it will be a springboard for future events and partnerships on CSR projects that will benefit the Kingdom,” Al Faisal said of the event. “By advocating for strategic CSR, Saudi Aramco can serve as a role model for both the for-profit and the nonprofit sectors in the country.”

Abdulaziz F. Al-Khayyal, senior vice president of Industrial Relations, articulated the forum’s goal as “to find a platform to connect experts in social responsibility and those influencing it, in an effort to exchange expertise, transfer knowledge, align plans and examine how the best programs are designed to be sustainable and fulfill society’s needs.”

Saudi Aramco took the initiative to organize the forum because “since its establishment, social responsibility and citizenship have been a part of the company’s strategy and its obligation toward the country,” Al-Khayyal said. “(The company) always works to support social responsibility strategically in all its operations and projects.”

Two research papers were presented at the conference. Omar Halabi’s paper found that many CSR programs are done by large national companies or those operating in the Kingdom and are done without coordination with other institutions. Also, some fields of social responsibility are neglected.

In the research paper “Century of Partnership,” its author, Gilbert Rustom, explained the concept and presented best practice examples from around the world and throughout the region, concluding by offering factors for successful partnerships.

The forum included presenters from many companies operating in the Kingdom including SABIC, Savola, National Commercial Bank, Microsoft and Zain, among others. The representatives shared their achievements in social responsibility and their future ambitions. 

Monirah Al-Qahtani of the Public Relations Operations Department presented an overview of Saudi Aramco’s social responsibility history and citizenship strategy, which is built on four pillars: economy, community, environment and knowledge. 

Samir Al-Abdrabbuh talked about some of SABIC’s CSR programs, including a project to fight cancer. For Microsoft, Mahmoud Najjar said the corporation’s CSR goals are to deal with global problems that happen on a local level. Aziza Al-Ahmadi from Zain said the mobile carrier focuses on public service announcements. 

In addition to the speeches, there was a workshop for which participants were divided into groups, with each group assigned a certain topic.

In the closing remarks, Nasser A. Al-Nafisee, general manager of Public Affairs, emphasized that “the goal of the forum is to meet in one place to exchange ideas and opinions, and benefit from others’ experiences.” He added that he was pleased with the high turnout and the “high level of engagement, frank discussions,” and that the forum will be held annually.