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Panelists speak at the Latham and Watkins-QBWA CSR conference. |
The panel was moderated by Ahmad Anani of Latham & Watkins, and included panelists such as Amal Abdullatif al-Mannai, executive director of the Social Development Centre and Adnan Ali Steitieh, executive director of Investment and Real Estate at Salam International Investment and secretary to the board of Salam Bounian.“We are delighted to partner with Latham and Watkins for this event. The session was very informative thanks to the insights and knowledge shared by the esteemed panelists. This topic is growing in importance and we look forward to further exploring the CSR topic and what constitutes best practices,” Aisha Alfardan, vice chairwoman of the QBWA said.
The event was organised under the auspices of Latham & Watkins’ Women Enriching Business initiative, a multi-pronged programme designed to promote women in business, and the QBWA’s ongoing efforts to provide members with skills, tools and learning opportunities to enhance their performance and contribute to the economic growth. The panelists discussed the business drivers advancing the CSR agenda in the boardroom and the role society plays in influencing corporate decisions surrounding CSR initiatives.
The industry experts also commented on CSR practices in Qatar and more generally in the Middle East. Al-Mannai highlighted the crucial role women can play in increasing awareness of CSR practices as well as in helping implementing CSR policies in their own businesses. Steitieh commented on the role industry benchmarks can play in rewarding robust and innovative CSR practices and in helping motivate companies to be good corporate citizens.
Qatari women have been very influential in this debate and have an extremely good understanding of corporate social responsibility. The discussion was enriching and covered a wide range of issues connecting the legal, business and philanthropic worlds, said Anani.