Staff Reporter, Gulf Today

The National CSR Fund (Majra)’s board of trustees held its third meeting in the year 2023 to discuss a range of new mechanisms to operationalize social responsibility frameworks.

The meeting also explored the means to promote cooperation between the government and private sectors in order to raise awareness on the criteria for social responsibility and the importance of its operationalization through the launch of development projects.

The meeting witnessed an update on Majra’s action plan for 2023 and its role in promoting community awareness on the importance of social responsibility. This plan includes the implementation of several projects and initiatives, as well as Majra’s strategy for the next five years. This strategy was launched last year with an aim to enhance the UAE’s role as a global champion in responsible investment and sustainable development efforts.

Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National CSR Fund, said: “With the guidance of its wise leadership, the UAE is keen to promote societal responsibility practices, as a national priority, and strengthen partnerships between the public and private sectors. The Fund continues to accelerate joint action to positively impact the society and the environment, in line with the country’s economic, social and environmental sustainable development priorities and objectives, and to support its global leadership in the area of corporate social responsibility.”

He added: “Our meeting today represents an important step forward in catalyzing contributions to the country’s sustainable development projects, especially since the Fund’s action plan for the year encompasses the implementation of a wide range of projects and initiatives. We also look forward to furthering the efforts to consolidate and organize the principles of social responsibility and strengthen cooperation with various entities to launch new development initiatives that embrace environmental and social standards.”

The meeting adopted a regulatory framework and the working mechanism for the local committees of each emirate for social responsibility in coordination with the chambers of commerce of the country. These are designed to promote participation in the ‘Future 100’ initiative, the enrichment of the field of knowledge, mandatory disclosures of companies and enterprises, as well as the provision of sustainable impact reports in each emirate.

The meeting further reviewed the progress made across 23 projects and initiatives of the Fund that serve various sectors, including SMEs and large companies. This comes within the Fund’s strategic plan, which is based on six key objectives; namely, the development of social responsibility policies and frameworks; the promotion and dissemination of a culture of community responsibility; the organization and operationalization of partnerships for national priorities and community responsibility; organizing and channeling companies’ contributions towards national priority development projects; measuring and stimulating social responsibility practices; and developing institutional capacities and working systems according to quality and effectiveness standards.

Majra was established as the federal body responsible for developing the regulatory framework for social responsibility and sustainable impact in the UAE. It is responsible for managing and directing the private sector’s efforts towards initiatives with national priorities aligned with environmental, social and governance indicators and sustainable development goals.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy has announced that Zencargo, a UK-based pioneer in digital freight forwarding, is the latest company to join its NextGenFDI program.

The company plans to establish operations in the Emirates with a view to integrating into the UAE’s technology, trade and logistics ecosystem and using the country as a platform to expand its operations into Africa and South Asia.

Zencargo’s presence in the UAE is an endorsement of the UAE’s Trade Tech initiative, which was launched in partnership with the World Economic Forum to accelerate the digitalization of international supply chains, enhance customs procedures, improve developing countries’ access to the global trading system and spur a new era of trade growth.

Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said: “The UAE is a champion of trade innovation and supports the harnessing of advanced technology to catalyze global trade. Zencargo’s decision to open operations in UAE is the latest example of a ground-breaking company taking advantage of our NextGen FDI program, and the UAE’s dynamic business ecosystem, to pursue their next growth stage, which includes the expansion into new markets. Their utilization of advanced technology to revolutionize freight forwarding is fully aligned with the UAE Trade Tech Initiative, which seeks to deploy the tools of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to bring the global trading system into the 21st Century.”

Commenting on Zencargo’s decision to establish operations in the UAE, Co-Founder Richard Fattal said: “It’s my pleasure to be here in the UAE. At Zencargo, we’re delighted to be expanding in the GCC region, which is undergoing so much growth and with a clear and open attitude to facilitating global trade that we find deeply encouraging. NextGen FDI and the UAE’s free port strategy are clear examples of this, and we are excited to be helping businesses in the region to unlock smarter shipping decisions and connect them with the tools to gain more control over their supply chains.”

Founded in London in 2017 by Alex Hersham and Richard Fattal, Zencargo is a freight forwarder that uses proprietary software to provide clients with a comprehensive overview of their supply chains. Its platform, powered by machine learning, digitizes the end-to-end inbound supply-chain process, offering complete visibility at each stage from order to delivery. Zencargo has quickly developed a multinational client base and is adding the UAE to its operations, which currently span offices in the UK, North America, Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), China and East Asia.