PTTAR boasts UN-inspired record

The company's president and chief executive Bowon Vongsinudon proudly told a recent seminar that according to the Corporate Governance Report of Thai Listed Companies 2010, PTTAR also achieved an "excellent" corporate-governance score and continually received a good assessment from company stakeholders.

Bowon was speaking at a seminar entitled "Embracing the UN Global Compact", aimed at creating awareness of social responsibility among other Thai companies. He attributed his company's good record to its commitment to corporate governance and its participation in the United Nations' Global Compact since May 5, 2010.

From that day, PTTAR vowed to be a responsible corporate citizen by implementing the UN Global Compact's 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and opposition to corruption in business operations. The global compact and its principles became an integral part of PTTAR's business strategy, day-to-day operations and organisational culture. 

The company also integrates the principles in its Annual Report and other public reports, such as its CSR or Sustainability Report, together with a description of the ways in which it implements the 10 principles.

Prasert Bunsumpun, president and chief executive of PTT - PTTAR's parent company - said the entire PTT group was committed to incorporating the Corporate Governance policy into its mission to become a multinational energy company.

The United Nations' Global Compact, launched in July 2000, is a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with 10 universally accepted principles.

The initiative urged business leaders to voluntarily become responsible corporate citizens by incorporating the 10 principles into their business operations.

To date, more than 9,000 corporations and stakeholders from 135 countries have joined the Global Compact. More than 6,200 of them are businesses. In June last year, there were 29 participants from Thailand, comprising six non-governmental organisations or foundations, nine public companies and 14 companies or small- and medium-sized enterprises.

The 10 principles declare that businesses should

 support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights;

 ensure that they are not complicit in human-rights abuses;

 uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;

 uphold the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

 uphold the effective abolition of child labour;

 uphold the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation;

 support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;

 undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility;

 encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies; and

 work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.