Socially responsible companies? Hong Kong lags Singapore, India
Hong Kong’s financial and professional services companies do not typically face the same reporting pressures as manufacturing-heavy nations, but that is beginning to change
More companies in Hong Kong may be practising corporate social responsibility (CSR), but they still lag behind counterparts in other markets. The recently launched 4th Hong Kong SME Business Sustainability Index shows a growing acceptance for CSR, a broad term referring to socially conscious business practices.
The overall indicator climbed to 66.02 (out of 100 points), an increase of 3.2 per cent from the previous survey and 13.2 per cent from the initial report in 2012. But the latest index signalled a large gap between top and bottom performers.
“That may not be a healthy phenomenon,” said Professor Carlos Lo, director of the Sustainability Management Research Centre at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which oversees the survey. “My worry is that the same group of companies are winning the CSR awards.”
Dunwell Enviro-Tech, which operates the largest independent waste-oil treatment and disposal plant in Asia, has earned special mention in each of the four surveys. Meanwhile, Baby Kingdom and Richform Holdings have been singled out in three of them.
In a bid to level the playing field last year, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, which previously called on companies to voluntarily report on sustainability policies related to issues like labour standards, supply-chain management, community involvement and environmental impacts, now asks them to “comply or explain” and report on such activities, or lack thereof.
