Indonesian business community moves towards more responsible business practices

JAKARTA (ILO News): Responsible business practices and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have emerged around the world and in Indonesia as a new business strategy for a long-term sustainability. In addition, at the global level, more and more instruments, frameworks and initiatives are being developed and adopted to provide guidance to multinational enterprises and local businesses, often as part of global supply chains.

To widely promote these responsible business practices and CSR across the business community nationwide, the International Labour Organization (ILO), in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Indonesia Business Links (IBL), will conduct a dialogue titled “Responsible and Sustainable Business Practices across Value Chains: An ILO-OECD Dialogue with the Business Community in Indonesia,” on Wednesday, 30 November 2011, at Batur Rinjani Room, Mercantile Athletic Club, World Trade Centre, Jakarta. The dialogue will be officially opened by HS Dillon, Special Envoy to the President for Poverty Alleviation.

The dialogue will be focused on two of the most important intergovernmental instruments on responsible business: the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy. These two “sister” instruments, adopted in 1976 and 1977 respectively, have been regularly updated with the aim of providing coherent guidance to enterprises on the social dimension of responsible business practices.

The dialogue brings together business community across Indonesia, including national and multinational enterprises, to further discuss and be more familiar with the guidance provided by these instruments. The dialogue also provides a forum for the enterprises to share experiences on challenges and opportunities faced and to point the way forward in developing sustainable and responsible business practices.

The dialogue will present Githa Roelans, the ILO’s Senior Specialist Multinational Enterprise Programme and Marie-France Houde, the OECD’s Head of Unit on OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, who will discuss the international business environment and its relations to the two instruments for responsible business and global supply chains. Meanwhile, Indonesian multinational enterprises, such as Siemens, BP, Unilever and GAP will be talking about challenges faced by the Indonesian companies in global supply chains and foreign investment as well as the practical examples of the current implementation of the two instruments.

For further information please contact:

Ratna Novianti
Senior External Relation Officer
Indonesia Business Links
Tel.: +62 21 520 2530/33
Email

Gita Lingga
Media Relation Officer
ILO Jakarta Office
Tel.: +6221 391 39112 ext. 115
Email