“Applying Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) norms – ISO26000 in business” was the main theme of a seminar held by the Leather and Footwear Research Institute in Hanoi on September 17.
General Secretary of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association Nguyen Thi Tong said that meeting CSR norms for sustainable development is often considered as a non-tariff trade barrier and challenge on the path to international integration for developing nations like Vietnam.
The ISO26000 project will help Vietnamese businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones, become effectively involved in the process of international integration and sustainable development, while facilitating CSR in Vietnam.
It is the manual for human resource training and awareness improvement for businesses, helping raise their profile and competitive capacity in international integration,” Tong told the seminar.
Florian Beranek, Chief Technical Advisor of the CSR project, said that the project’s main objective is to help raise businesses’ awareness of the benefits from integrating CSR into sustainable development of businesses themselves, as well as of the community and society.
Promoting CSR should be an integral part of production and business strategies. It is also necessary to strengthen cooperation between European and Vietnamese businesses in order to develop cooperative ties between Europe and Asia, he said.
Beranek added that dealing with demanding customers today, the project will help businesses address environmental issues and promote social policies for more sustainable production in the future.
(VOV)
