Entitled “Shaping CSR: Opportunities for the Well-being of the ASEM Workforce“, this ASEM initiative was hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Against the background of the financial and economic crisis, international cooperation is of key importance also in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR is an important aspect of the social dimension of globalisation.
In the framework of a cooperation project on behalf of the Labour and Employment Ministers of the “Asia Europe Meetings” (ASEM), the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs organised the High-Level ASEM-CSR Conference under the title “Shaping CSR – Opportunities for the Well-Being of the ASEM Workforce” in Potsdam from 16 to 17 March 2009.
37 Asian and European countries as well as the EU Commission and the Asean Secretariat met to discuss current developments in the field of CSR.
Together with the then EU Commissioner Vladimir Spidla and the Labour and Employment Ministers of important ASEM member countries, the then Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Olaf Scholz, was committed to enhancing Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe and Asia.
In Potsdam, the ASEM delegations represented two of the world’s most important and largest economic areas and spheres of life. Together with companies, social partners and experts they dealt with current questions relating to CSR which has become a major issue on the political, economic and social agenda. The objective was to highlight areas, where commitment is useful, to pool activities, to recommend good examples worthy of imitation and to be a role model in order to advance the debate on Corporate Social Responsibility in the ASEM process.