Author: Hamza Shahnawaz

KARACHI: The foreign investors operating in Pakistan have spent around Rs14.5 billion on activities under Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) during the year 2020/2021, a statement said on Thursday.

The foreign investors, who are members of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), like previous years, once again reaffirmed their commitment to uplift the Pakistani society from all aspects and invested Rs14.5 billion in different CSR and Sustainable projects during 2020-21, stated in a press statement issued for sharing the highlights of OICCI Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report 2020-21.

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About 100 of the leading foreign investors and members of OICCI continued to stand by the government to fight the pandemic of COVID-19 besides carrying out their several CSR initiatives which benefit the marginalized communities across the country.

The CSR activities of OICCI members do not only include monetary contributions but the intellect and time of their employees as well which develop sustainable and long-term projects across Pakistan with the underlying commitment to uplift the underprivileged strata of the society through different means.

President OICCI, Ghias Khan, commended the unparallel commitment of OICCI members who are inspiring the corporate sector alike to invest in the society besides introducing latest technology and skills transfer for the local population.

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“The OICCI members keep on enhancing the CSR fabric through a proactive engagement between business and all stakeholders in the society which results in model CSR initiatives and Sustainability practices, largely in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) to meet the growing needs of the society”, Ghias added.

Vice President OICCI, Amir Paracha, highlighted that the annual CSR Report 2020-21 reflects the feedback from about half of OICCI membership who have shared their CSR activities. This year total CSR contribution was PKR 11 billion, which benefited about 34 million direct beneficiaries across the country. OICCI members and their colleagues spent around 1.4 million man-hours and partnered with 160 social and development sector organizations throughout Pakistan. The geographic distribution of the CSR activities has been 31 per cent in Sindh, 27 per cent in Punjab, 15 per cent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 13 per cent in Baluchistan, 8 per cent in Gilgit-Baltistan, and 6 per cent in Azad Kashmir.

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The COVID-19 continues to be a challenge for businesses throughout the world. Our members showed exceptional leadership and resilience in the fight against COVID-19. During the year, 90 per cent of our participant-members contributed about PKR 3.5 billion to various causes to fight the pandemic.

Protecting Environment is one of the areas which is getting growing attention recently. 69 per cent of our participant-members carried out environment related pursuits and spent about PKR 1.5 billion for the purpose of protecting environment.

With respect to specific UN SDGs, 79 per cent of the OICCI members focused on health and well-being, and actively supported health and nutrition related initiatives through donations to reputable hospitals, medical care camps and health awareness campaigns.

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Moreover, 73 per cent of members contributed to Quality Education by funding primary and secondary school facilities, scholarships, and various vocational training programs for skills development. Gender Equality is also one of the focus areas where more than half of our participant-members supported the women empowerment activities and actively supported the “OICCI Women” initiative in place since 2017.

OICCI is the collective body of top 200 foreign investors in Pakistan, belonging to 35 countries, who are also the largest contributor to the economy of Pakistan besides being the largest foreign investors.