Feb. 25--Both public and private organisations today can hardly overlook the significance of corporate social responsibility as a tool to build sustainable growth for the organisation as a whole.

The state-owned Government Housing Bank has long realised the importance of promoting social responsibility. It believes community support creates a strong growth structure for both the business and society itself.

Chalieo Vitoorapakorn, the bank's director and executive director, said the bank recorded strong profits every year and it wants to share its sweet success with the community that provides its income.

"People maintain the sustainable quality of profits in business," Mr Chalieo said. "The stronger the community, the more sustainable the growth of our organisation."

Every part of the organisation needs to collaborate for a successful and effective CSR activity.

"The ultimate goal when doing business is to maximise profit. But in pursuit of that goal we should build our brands through social responsibility and good corporate governance," Mr Chalieo said.

Organisations that fail to convey a good image could also fail to gain consumer support despite selling cheap products.

GH Bank believes CSR has created an admirable and strong image for it, leading to loyalty from its clients.

This year, to emphasise its commitment, GH Bank recently set up a committee to look after the organisation's corporate governance (CG) and CSR programmes.

President Khan Prachuabmoh said the bank had a long history in CG through many social activities, but did not have an integrated direction or clear vision for its CSR programmes.

"The committee is set to focus on promoting CSR and CG policy and awareness among our employees," Mr Khan said. "Our vision as a state financial institution is to help people own their houses, albeit with a social responsibility consciousness that creates a positive image in the eye of all stakeholders."

The bank's CSR programmes have been focused on promoting the quality of life, sports, environment, religion, arts and culture and supporting those who suffered from natural disasters.

The bank divided its CSR activities into three sections: activities within the organisation, activities for neighbouring areas including Huai Khwang, TOT and the Rama IX temple, and activities for communities and society.

Each project will help to make GH Bank more recognisable while also introducing its CSR logo for the first time this year.As part of its CSR policy this year, the bank launched GH Bank Home Care Mobile to offer building and automobile repair service free of charge to organisations in need.

As the poor economy could cause unemployment to rise, GH Bank plans to help its low- and middle-income clients with their home installment burdens by introducing incentives such as interest-free repayment terms or omitting the installment for this year.

The incentives are still under discussion and due to take effect around the middle of this year.

As part of the bank's vision to further promote environmentalism among its employees, it will collect used plastic bottles next month and sell them to support its other CSR programmes.

Do you know of an interesting or well-received CSR programme that deserves recognition? Contact pornnalatp@bangkokpost.co.th

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