On Friday 27th October, the Gozo Business Chamber organised the 3rd Conference on ‘Ethics in Business’ with the theme ‘Putting Corporate Social Responsibility into Practice’. The objective of the conference was to discuss the responsibility of businesses in the communities in which they operate, and what should motivate actions under CSR.
Daniel Borg, CEO of the Gozo Business Chamber highlighted that as “businesses we need to cater for our community, our relationships the place we inhabit.” He highlighted how the responsibility of businesses, as important stakeholders within the community is greater. Joseph Borg, President of the Chamber commented how “businesses have a moral responsibility that extends beyond profit generation”. Marisa Xuereb, the keynote speaker highlighted that “where greed is everywhere you look, there is a high risk that it becomes normalised, because everything is relative”, thus the importance of values to guide the way businesses operate. She also spoke about the interplay between businesses, and NGOs as these feature prominently in CSR initiatives. The alignment of values is critical in these cases.
A discussion panel then ensued with the participation of Dr Gordon Cordina, Godfrey Swain, and Paul Curmi. All the panelists provided an important viewpoint on the subject from the perspective of their present and past roles. Dr Gordon Cordina highlighted how “adopting an ESG-and CSR-first approach will be essential to sustain competitiveness in the coming decade.” Given his experience in developing countries, Godfrey Swain commented that we cannot take our current scenario for granted. This should not be the case and in such difficult situations, CSR takes the form of concrete initiatives which really help the community. Paul Curmi, highlighted that employers need to lead by example if they expect employees to follow suit.
In his concluding remarks to the Conference Mgr Anton Teuma, Bishop of Gozo highlighted how businesses must cooperate in a way that serves the common good and the dignity of the human person.
The conference was held in collaobration with the Diocese of Gozo, the Foundation Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, and Bank of Valletta.
You can access the agenda for the conference here.
You can access the booklet for the conference (including the abstract) here.
You can watch again the proceeding of the conference here.
The following interventions can be accessed here:
