OCGS to Organise First Sustainability Conference

Muscat, To disseminate governance and

sustainability concept and culture in all the institutions in the Sultanate,

Oman Centre for Governance and Sustainability (OCGS) will hold the

First Sustainability Conference on 4 December at Oman Convention

and Exhibition Centre under the patronage of Dr. Yahya bin Mahfoudh

al-Mantheri, Chairman of the State Council. The conference will be

attended by ministers, undersecretaries and representatives of

businesses and decision makers in sustainability in Oman and abroad.

The conference will cover topics, such as social responsibility,

general and private partnership for social impact, social innovation with

the participation of prominent speakers from Oman and abroad and

chief executive officers of sustainability institutions.

Sayyid Hamed bin Sultan al Busaidi, Executive Director of

OCGS said the conference will witness the launching of National

Policy Charter in Sustainability and Social Responsibility which aims to

be a benchmark for all institutions for best practices in sustainability.

He added the conference would be a forum of discussion between the

public and private sectors for consideration of ways to achieve the

goals of sustainable development adopted by the United Nations (UN)

beside dissemination of sustainability awareness.

He added the project will achieve a number of results, the first is

the role of the centre and its programmes, secondly the future

strategies by focusing on strength points in sustainability and social

development in supporting the institutions desirous of adopting best

practices in this respect. Thirdly, transparent disclosure of the

opportunities and challenges facing the companies and proposals and

recommendations for solutions. Fourth, awareness of partners and

stakeholders in the institutions and the community of the concepts

adopted by OCGS.

The conference will include discussion sessions on Developing

Sustainability Strategies in Oman which will address the steps

adopted by the Sultanate to contain the sustainability in its 2040 vision

besides discussion of national endeavours to align sustainability plans

with the United National Millennium Development Goals. The second

dialogue session will be titled Social Strategic Investment

Programmes. This session will address the concept of social

responsibility and show the difference between it and social investment

of companies.

The third discussion session will be Public and private sector

partnership and measuring the impact on the community. The session

will discuss the role of the different sectors and importance of

cooperation for the mutual benefit to achieve social impact to attain

sustainable development. The fourth session will be Disclosure and

Reports on Sustainability. This session will discuss the importance of

disclosure and transparency on the performance of the companies in

the capital markets and the roles of disclosure in enhancing the

confidence between the institutions and the participants.

The conference is a valuable opportunity for the companies to

take part with attendance or sponsorship to show their role in social

responsibility and sustainability and their contribution to the national

economy.

OCGS had previously organised a workshop on preparation of

unified national policies in social responsibility and sustainability

attended by 55 persons representing 36 institutions from the public

and private sectors.

Source: Oman News Agency