By Peter Alagos/Business Reporter

The call for transparency and anti-corruption, which was among the salient points raised in a speech recently delivered by HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is also a form of corporate social responsibility (CSR), the Dutch ambassador has said.
Speaking to Gulf Times at a recent forum, Yvette Burghgraef – van Eechoud said: “One of the points raised by HH the Emir was that we need to root out corruption or abuse of power – that is part and parcel of CSR as well.
“To be ‘corporate-socially responsible’ means being transparent; don’t abuse funds and your position because corruption wastes a lot of funds … Qatar does not have a huge corruption problem but the point was made by His Highness, which is always good to remind people that they have a shared responsibility.”
Asked if HH the Emir’s call for austerity will affect the next CSR budgets of Qatar companies, van Eechoud said: “It’s not a question of cutting budget costs but sticking to the plan,” referring to Qatar National Vision 2030.
“In terms of CSR projects for companies, HH the Emir is still sticking with Qatar National Vision 2030, which highlights sustainability and responsibility as very important components. So, I think there won’t be a lot of cuts in CSR budgets,” she said.
“The major point is that it’s not all about projects and putting a lot of funding to it; it’s mainly about the behaviour of companies, which is the most important thing and it does not cost a lot of money; it actually saves you money if you behave in a responsible way,” she added.
The ambassador elaborated that companies must be conscious of their operations such as water and energy use, and how to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
“To avoid wasting resources like water and energy, companies need to be structured and disciplined in reducing CO2 emissions, which is also a cost-cutting measure. Aside from implementing these strategies, companies need to study their entire chain to determine if their operations have minimal impact on environment,” she explained.
Van Eechoud also pointed out that the proper training of human resources cuts operational costs and contributes to company savings.
“If you have human resources that are not trained properly, you’re wasting funds because they’re not doing their job properly and cannot do their job properly. People need to be safe, they need to be trained and should know what to do; it is also a measure that helps you save money and resources if employees are trained properly,” she said. “CSR should come from the core and not just projects being done outside the company. A successful CSR programme is one that is inherent in a company’s business process in order to make optimum use and cause minimal damage.”