The FINANCIAL – Public policy and public sector actors in middle and low-income countries are increasingly confronted with issues related to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Government involvement is illustrated through examples of policy instruments and programmes promoting CSR in developing countries.

The concept of corporate social responsibility aims both to examine the role of business in society, and to maximize the positive societal outcomes of business activity.

Kakha Kuchava, Chairman of The Committee on Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, spoke about the importance of CSR in relation to Georgia’s circumstances today.

“CSR is very deep and broad as a concept. As a term and an issue itself it is generally becoming more and more popular in Georgia, but as I see, there is still no clear definition understood by the wider general population. Basically, CSR has been presented as a liability of financing or granting specific activities. In fact, corporate social responsibility should be linked to the benefit followed by the company’s activities,” Kakha Kuchava, Chairman of the Committee on Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, told The FINANCIAL.

CSR is by definition voluntary and therefore success relies on a business-led approach. It is also diverse and constantly evolving to meet changing circumstances.

“As soon as our committee was first established, we created several working groups in the direction of CSR. We had planned to become actively involved in this direction; we had meetings with business associations and company representatives. We had outdoor activities in Tbilisi and in the regions to increase awareness about what CSR is. Our main goal is to raise awareness and search for a solution to make it easier for the private sector and entrepreneurs to understand the importance of and need for CSR,” Kuchava noted.

Corporate responsibility is not just the preserve of big business but something which every business can adopt. Indeed, smaller businesses can, and do, contribute significantly to the environment and, especially, to society, as they can have closer links with the communities they serve.

Many small and medium sized enterprises do enormous good for the environment and communities around them. And of those that do, a high proportion do not publicize the good contributions they make, and thus potentially miss out on economic benefits.

“Today we are actively working on stabilizing legislative amendments to the environmental damage industries. This is a bit of a painful and unpleasant process for many, but the fact is that if we think about the future and the sustainable development of the country, the environmental component is one of the most important, together with the economic and the social,” Kakha Kuchava said to The FINANCIAL.