IBLF head praises Indonesian progress on CSR

Indonesian businesses have been congratulated for their progress in introducing corporate responsibility policies by Robert Davies, chief executive of the International Business Leaders' Forum (IBLF).

However, they need to tackle social problems such as public health and employment by developing new business practices and partnerships, he said.  Company executives had achieved a great deal in five years but the threats of poverty remain, said Davies, speaking at Indonesia's first national CSR conference, run by the IBLF affiliate Indonesia Business Links in Jakarta last month.

Davies told them: 'Companies must move beyond a do-no-harm strategy to become more proactive in tackling poverty, in order to ensure that international business standards are the foundation for new partnerships and business models that offer livelihood opportunities, enterprise and training to one of Asia's largest pools of youth unemployment and under-employment.'