CP earns international praise for virus crisis response

By The Nation

 

 

Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group shared its Covid-19 experiences at this week’s international “High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2020”, organised by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

 

 

Speaking at the “Building Back Better: Navigating Business Risks and Opportunities in a Post-Covid World” video conference, CP’s chief sustainability officer Noppadol Dej-Udom said the group had mitigated Covid-19 impacts and will continue to aid economic and social development after the pandemic in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

Noppadol said CP faced three major challenges during the virus crisis.

 

The first was to ensure job security, whereby the company formed policy to not layoff any of its 360,000 employees worldwide. This initiative had boosted Thailand’s economy by ensuring the security of employees’ families and business partners along the supply chain, he said.

 

The second challenge was food security. As people began panicking and stockpiling food supplies during the first phase of lockdown, CP created confidence for consumers by providing sufficient and safe food to meet their needs, said Noppadol. The company also delivered free food to those who had lost their incomes and to those quarantined at home, as well as developing affordable ready-to-eat food to help reduce living costs for those suffering amid the pandemic.

The third challenge was health and well-being. Due to the shortage of face masks, CP established a surgical face mask factory within five weeks with a production capacity of 3 million masks per month to be distributed to medical personnel, hospitals, humanitarian organisations and the general public nationwide.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has provided us with the opportunity to reassess our strategies. Some suggest that the virus is a rehearsal for a bigger crisis to come, which is climate change. The virus crisis will enable us to learn and better prepare for the future. In addition to donating goods and money to tackle this crisis, a new collaborative effort has been formed, based on integration of ideas and expertise from all sectors. We must synergise and unite globally to get through this crisis together.” said Noppadol.

 

Other panellists highlighted the importance of innovation in agriculture to increase productivity, reduce land use and chemicals, and boost resilience to climate change. The importance of maintaining the globe’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach “zero Carbon” targets to prevent the global temperature rising more than 2C was also emphasised. Caroline Rees president & CEO of human rights agency Shift, worried that Covid-19 could widen economic and social inequality, adding that private sector must look after employees and other other stakeholders, not only their shareholders. Rees praised CP Group for retaining its employees and for providing concrete assistance to those affected by the crisis.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30391506

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-07-18

 

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Pat yourself on the back, as you get rich off the backs of the needy

Edited July 18, 20205 yr by Redline

Toadying.

15 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The first was to ensure job security, whereby the company formed policy to not layoff any of its 360,000 employees worldwide.

If that is true, CP deserves some credit.