Princess Bandari Al-Faisal, director general of the King Khalid Charitable Foundation, described the first-of-its-kind event as successful and highly beneficial.

“I hope it will be a springboard for future events and partnerships on corporate social responsibility projects,” she was quoted as saying on Saudi Aramco’s official website.

“By advocating for strategic CSR, Saudi Aramco can serve as a role model for both the for-profit and the not-for-profit sectors in Saudi Arabia,” said Princess Bandari.

According to Saudi Aramco executives, social responsibility is an obligation toward the country and society; it is not simply a matter of charity work to be added to the workload of companies.

Among the forum’s goals was to find a platform to connect experts in social responsibility and those influencing it with a view to exchanging expertise, transferring knowledge, aligning plans and examining 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 has been an integral part of the company’s strategy,” said Abdul Aziz F. Al-Khayyal, senior vice president of industrial relations.

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

Two important and relevant research papers were presented at the conference; one by Omar Halabi and another by Gilbert Rustom.

Halabi said many corporate social responsibility programs were being carried out by a number of national companies and those operating in Saudi Arabia. “However, there is no coordination among them and with other related institutions,” he said.

The forum included presentations from many companies such as Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), Savola, National Commercial Bank, Microsoft and Zain Saudi Arabia. The companies shared their various achievements in the field of corporate social responsibility.

Samir Al-Abdrabbuh spoke about some of SABIC’s programs, including one on fighting cancer. Mahmoud Najjar said Microsoft’s goal is to deal with global problems at a local level. Aziza Al-Ahmadi of Zain Saudi Arabia said the telecom company has focused on disseminating public interest announcements through its network.

Nasser A. Al-Nafisi, general manager of Public Affairs at Saudi Aramco, said the primary goal of the forum was to meet at one place and to exchange ideas and opinions and to benefit from others’ experiences.

“I was pleased with the high turnout, the high level of engagement and frank discussions,” he said in his concluding remarks and announced that the forum would be held every year.

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