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July
30, 2002
"ROMANIAN
COMPANIES DO WELL BY DOING GOOD"
USAID AND THE ROMANIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
LAUNCH THE "CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY" PROGRAM
In Bucharest, a theatre, a kindergarten and a retirement home will be restored. In Brasov, shoes will be donated to the unemployed. In Craiova, citizens will be enabled to properly dispose of solid waste. In Galati, handicapped children and orphans will get a computer lab. In Pucheni Mari, the school will be repaired. In Constanta, institutionalized children will receive vocational training. Nationally, a program to equip schools with software will be initiated.
These are the community projects developed by Romanian companies under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Romanian Chamber of Commerce's joint Corporate Social Responsibility Program.
The program introduces the concepts and practices of good corporate citizenship to Romanian businesses. It encourages them to actively participate in solving local community issues.
Twenty-one Romanian companies from eight counties were trained on corporate social responsibility and project development. Nine companies developed and allocated resources to good community project-proposals. USAID awarded grants to co-finance these projects. The projects will be completed by the end of September. The three best implementors will be recognized during a special ceremony.
On July 31st, USAID and Chamber of Commerce will launch the "Corporate Social Responsibility" program. USAID and Chamber representatives will provide a brief description of the program followed by the presentation of the awardees. The managers of the winning companies will then answer questions about their projects.
Fred Kirschstein, of USAID/Romania, has said: "Companies depend a great deal on the goodwill and cooperation of the communities in which they work. Good companies recognize this and seek ways to use their business skills to benefit the community. Corporate citizenship recognizes that a company is a citizen of the community within which it does business, and therefore, it should be concerned with community problems. Corporate Social Responsibility programs demonstrate one aspect of free-market democracies. They can promote the sense within post-communist societies that capitalist enterprises are interested in contributing to the solution of community problems."
USAID is the U.S. Government agency that provides economic development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States. Established in 1961, USAID began operations in Romania in 1990. To date, USAID has provided more than $350 million to assist economic growth, democracy and social reform in Romania.
NOTE FOR THE PRESS:
The event will take place on Wednesday, July 31, 2002, 9:30 a.m., at the Romanian Chamber of Commerce, Octavian Goga Blvd #2, Dacia Room.
Contact Person: Mihaela Popescu, USAID, tel: 335 5805
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