PKS establishes Council for Corporate Social Responsibility

PKS establishes Council for Corporate Social Responsibility

Members of the Council are representatives of business sector, foundations and NGOs, recognized for their engagement and devotion to the principles of corporate social responsibility.

Veran Matic from B92 Fund was appointed its Chairman, while members of the Council are the following: Ana Divac (Foundation of Ana and Vlade Divac), Neven Marinovic (Smart kolektiv and Forum for corporate responsibility), Sanda Savic (Hemofarm Foundation), Biljana Dakic Djordjevic (Trag Foundation), Jelena Djokovic (Novak Djokovic Foundation), Kruna Savovic (Zivkovic-Samardzic Law Office), Igor Loncarevic (KPMG), and Sanja Bunic (Serbian Chamber of Commerce) in the capacity of Council’s general secretary. Engagement of the President and members of the Council are completely on pro bono basis.

Main task of the Council for Corporate Social Responsibility is promoting corporate social responsibility in the economy of the Republic of Serbia, along with establishing continuous dialogue with the representatives of state bodies and institutions, as well as launching initiatives for adopting National Development Strategy of promoting corporate social responsibility in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2016-2020.

"The Council will represent a hub for improving conditions for CSR activities, starting with legal incentives and benefits, to assisting companies to develop corporate social responsibility within their organizations, as well as within the community“, Veran Matic, Chairman of the Council had stated, pointing out that „it will be the place that unites overall positive energy that already exists in diverse foundations, NGOs and companies, that work on the community welfare, so that through synergy, they could do much more for the development of their respective communities“.

This newly formed body within Serbian Chamber of Commerce will, among other things, advocate changes in tax and other legal acts so that with enhancing tax policy, donations for the common good would be stimulated, thus additionally improving conditions for the development of corporate philanthropy and donorship.

Moreover, the Council will point to the need of adjusting tax regulations and current policies with the provisions of the Law on Endowments and Foundations, in order to contribute to achieving general benefits and corporate social responsibility of the companies in various fields of work. Furthermore, the Council will be engaged in the promotion and introduction of the principles and appropriate standards of corporate social responsibility within the companies, including regular reporting on CSR activities and transparency in corporate donations, offering members of the Chamber relevant information on diverse potential engagements in the CSR field, also gathering and distributing information on the activities of all companies in this particular field. It will also be actively engaged in launching and implementing socially significant national campaigns, in accordance with agreed annual action plan.

In order to be able to achieve entrusted goals, Council will consult and engage other bodies within the Serbian Chamber of Commerce for certain expert issues from the CSR field, cooperating in the process with other organizations and initiatives in this field.