To Kim Lien | Center for Education and Development Quy Nhon, 26 June

Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) CSR in timber processing industries Support communities as part of CSR CONTENTS

Society’s Expectations of Businesses Impacts and power of business to society has increased Expectations of society to businesses has changed overtime Society expects businesses to be responsible for social and environment issues Society expects businesses to join efforts to address issues faced by society today

CSR Today Community support Giving to community How businesses operate Definitions of CSR

Responsible throughout the supply chain Support employees Applied appropriate technical standards Provide quality goods and services at the most reasonable prices possible Ensure payroll and benefits for employees Do not harm the environment Law compliance Support forest farmers and communities Provide techniques, goods, services Support vocational trainings Support communities livelihoods Support sectoral sustainable dev. programs Support government initiatives Support community dev. Programs Business Operations Responsibilities to communities

Business Operations Forest law compliance (existing regulations to ensure timber legalities), effective production process, saving resources and energy => reduce negative impacts to environment Responsible throughout the supply chain Support employees and workers (labor law compliance and benefits) Apply proper technical standards (harvesting, environment management, processing, …) Ensure payroll and additional benefits (e.g. protection gears)

Support training, technical and education for farmers and timber supply Provide businesses with information and guidance on market requirements and customs (origins ) Support farmers by implementing government programs (existing programs …) Support community programs and initiatives Community Support

Current Practices from Businesses 61/63 (97%) enterprises indicated that they were interested in the origins and legality of timbers used. From the 97% of enterprises, 92% of them already had proofs or verifiers. 3/61 said they were not interested in timber origins as they export to China, Hong Kong and South Africa and clients did require proof. 58/61 enterprises are interested in timber legality.

Current Practices From Businesses Timber from domestics sources have difficulties in having verification of legality, with local farmers lacking the necessary papers and proofs. Furthermore, administrative procedures of public offices are cumbersome and time-consuming. Many businesses said that it is difficult to verify timbers from domestics suppliers. It takes a long time and costs businesses money

Current Practices From Businesses Some businesses indicated that some legal documents and regulations on timber legality are unclear, or government agencies have different understandings of the documents. This causes and creates problems for businesses. Some businesses indicated that some available documents are unclear as most of verifiers or proofs are documents certified from forest protection officers. However, these documents are not unified, include many handwritings. Furthermore, as documents are not properly filed, occasional file get lost during the process.

46% of the sample indicated that they were willing to cover costs for training. 40% of businesses did not give an answer and 14% stated that they were not willing. Those willing were seen to be larger size companies, with their main markets being in the EU, Australia, China, South Korea. Current Practices From Businesses

Increase the exchange of information between Vietnamese and EU businesses or with businesses in countries that Vietnamese companies are buying timber from.

Conclusions Commitments from related stakeholders to increase capacity for businesses to bring about benefits for themselves, society and the community. Implementing CSR businesses will allow opportunities to cooperate with organizations and other partners. This will create effective solutions to further develop the timber processing sector in a more sustainable manner

Conclusions Integrate CSR in business objectives and plans and have long-term plans and clear strategies for CSR … Cooperate with other organizations and media to share experiences, lessons learnt, and stories (roles of NGOs and biz associations) Need to have an active and strong business leadership

To Kim Lien Director Center for Education and Development Website: Tel: (84-4) Fax: (84-4) To Kim Lien Director Center for Education and Development Website: Tel: (84-4) Fax: (84-4)