Governance is a system, developed with rules, regulations, practices, and processes, by which a company is directed, operated, monitored, controlled and balance the interests of company's stakeholders, said Local Government Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Md Tazul Islam on Saturday
He said , successful businessmen attains sustainable business growth by taking together corporates, stakeholders, public and environment. While doing so, the roles of Auditors are commendable, as they act as a link between corporates and public, he added.
The Minister was addressing a webinar on ‘Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG)-Global Perspective’, organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB).
"Chartered Accountants are doing very critical jobs specially in the field of auditing. Auditing is essential to corporations and society because it is a medium to build a good relationship between corporations and stakeholders", he further said.
ICAB President Mahmudul Khusru FCA delivered address of welcome while Nasir Uddin Ahmed FCA, Member Council and Past President of ICAB conducted the session as the session chairman.
Asif Chowdhury, Senior Manager, Ernst & Young LLP, United Kingdom and Adeeba Nuraina Risha, Research Associate, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) jointly presented the keynote paper.
Professor Dr. Khondoker Mokaddam Hossain, Founder Director, Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies (IDMVS) dept, University of Dhaka and Dr. Jaynal Uddin Ahmed, Professor, Department of Management, North- Eastern Hill University, Meghalaya, India participated in the webinar as panel speakers.
ICAB President Mahmudul Hasan Khusru FCA said, investors, regulators, consumers and media see how the company uses energy, manages its waste & pollution and deals with environmental risks & acts in the wake of disasters.
Citing examples from Europe and America regarding legal requirements and regulatory frameworks of corporate social responsibilities (CSR), ICAB President said noncompliance of CSR policies are often undertaken as legal punishment in those countries. Their laws enforce corporations to make decisions based on long term sustainability of the corporation rather than on profits and dividends alone, he added.
He also said, in Bangladesh, the practice of CSR is rather of negative impact, as structural approaches - through which CSR is administered and regulated - are often lacked practical applicability.
He suggested that Chartered Accountants as information provider to the top management and the stakeholders should take into consideration of environment, social and corporate governance rules while they plan future oversight functions of the company for business. ICAB CEO Shubhashish Bose made introductory remarks and Vice President Sidhartha Barua FCA made concluding remarks.
Entrepreneurs are taking steps to ensure their business growth through reporting CSR activities like medical facilities, education and building awareness about environmental threats and climate changes among the employees. They also understand that resilience of environmental & social threats would ensure more productivity of the industry, enhance the employee’s contribution to the development of the economy. So, sustainability of the company depends on how a company manages its relationships with employees, suppliers, customers & the community.
