A roundtable on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and challenges in Bangladesh was organised by the CSR Centre at the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI). Chaired by BEI President Farooq Sobhan, the presentations at the roundtable were made by ACI Corporate Planning Manager Bitopi Das Chowdhury, Tata Group Resident Director S Manzer Hussain and NGO Service Delivery Programme Chief of Party Robert Timmons. In their brief presentation, the presenters shared the CSR implementation strategy of their firms and highlighted the specific CSR programmes and challenges they have faced in implementing the programmes. The BEI is organising the roundtable dialogue series on CSR in action as part of the CSR Centre's initiative to raise awareness of stakeholders on CSR issues. Every month, one presenter each from a local company, a multi-national and an NGO are asked to share their CSR implementation strategy and the challenges they face in practising CSR. The roundtable is attended by the young CEOs and professionals, media, academic and government representatives. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life. The CSR Centre at the BEI has been established in June this year. As envisioned, it will be a private sector-led initiative, sustaining itself through various tools and services that it will provide. It will work through networks and partnerships and provide a platform for dialogue and interactions among the various stakeholders.
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