Corporate social responsibility highlighted at Natural Resources seminar

Nov 15, 2012 News

The role of the extractive industry in the national economy and the wider social development of the country has been increasing, according to Minister with responsibility for the Natural Resources sector, Robert Persaud.
He was at the time addressing a ‘Sustainable management of the extractive sector’ seminar at the Guyana International Conference Centre yesterday. The event, which was spearheaded by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and the United Nations Development Programme, saw the attendance of a number of natural resources stakeholders.
Minister Persaud noted that with increased competition and more

Minister Robert Persaud makes a point at yesterday’s forum

players, both local and international, there are outlined roles and responsibilities that must be followed. Coming from a standpoint of legal obligations as well as the standpoint of voluntary obligations, these stakeholders’ input in supporting social and economic development of the country is crucial, Persaud added.
Against this background he noted that “…we have thought it best that in working with the UNDP and in developing the strategic framework for the entire natural resources and environment sector that we pay keen attention to the role of corporate social responsibility.”
In pointing to the importance of adherence to the principles of corporate social responsibility, the Natural Resources Minister noted that failure to do so could in fact affect companies’ profitability.
“It affects those who are trading on the stock exchange be it in New York, Hong Kong or Canada; we also know that there is a heavy premium of these companies adhering to sound corporate social responsibility,” Persaud added.
Moreover, he underscored that corporate social responsibility is not only good for business but also for Government’s management of the sector and “that is why we want to ensure that all stakeholders are on board, and that the Government work with different players and different stakeholders in this regard.”
“We want to make sure that we strike that harmonious balance in terms of achieving what we consider that enabling framework for the sustainable development and management of the natural resources sector, Persaud said.
This approach, according to him has in recent times been a very important tenet of companies as well as Governments. He disclosed that how the extractive industry is managed, efforts must be made to learn not only from the experiences of other countries and institutions but that strategy must be complemented by a team of experts.
Dealing with the issue of ‘resource curse’ is also of paramount importance, since according to the Natural Resources Minister there is a need to determine “how do we strike that balance and how do we, working together, overcome these…even the roles and responsibilities of companies, other players as well as Government are maintained.”
Against this background, he noted that over the next two day efforts will be directed towards a review of what has been done in Guyana and how it is that stakeholders have been operating in terms of sustainable development and management as well as utilisation of natural resources.
The seminar, according to Persaud, will also seek to highlight shortcomings with a view to improving how it is that “we can have these addressed.”