Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (“ThaiBev”) places significant emphasis on operating and developing its business in a sustainable manner, and is committed to continue doing so over the long run. We established a Corporate Sustainability Development Committee around two years ago, with myself as the Chairman and other senior executives from various business functions as members. The committee is responsible for considering, planning, as well as formulating development policies that are based on principles of sustainability, and then carrying them out over the short, medium, and long term in alignment with Vision 2020 – the six-year strategic roadmap for ThaiBev’s businesses. Since then, all of us within the organization have become increasingly focused on performing our roles and business operations with such principles in mind. Be it economic, social, or environmental matters, we strive to build good relationships with our stakeholders across all sectors.
Economic development is critical and should not be overlooked. We are proud to be a part of the Public–Private Steering Committee, a collaboration between the government, private sector, and citizens to cultivate a “Civil State.” In addition,
we have established C asean, a social enterprise that aims to inculcate knowledge about business, arts and culture, as well as to develop professional networks and activities for the younger generation; and also to tap on expertise derived from the private sector’s experiences, leveraging them for the development of the ASEAN region.
Our initiatives on the social front cover aspects such as community and social development, education, public health, arts and culture, as well as sports. In particular, our community development programs are focused on creating value as well as being a role model for society by creating frameworks that other social development organizations can reference for their work. One example is our Model Youth Project in the Bang Kuwat Community, located nearby one of our production facilities. This projects seeks to raise education levels and develop youth leaders in the area so as to empower them to improve their economic standing and quality of life. We promote education among Thai youths as we recognize that it is an important factor that would enable them to more effectively contribute to country’s development. ThaiBev has therefore also supported the Beta Young Entrepreneur Project, which provides Thai youths with the opportunity to learn how to operate real businesses and raises their awareness of morality, ethics, and corporate social responsibility. We also continuously support a wide range of public health programs, allocating funds to aid in the construction of the Bhumirajanagarindra Kidney Institute Hospital and Chang Medical Clinic, for example. In 2015, Chang Medical Clinic launched a special humanitarian project – “Prostheses for the Disabled and Health Checkup for the Elderly” – to commemorate HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s auspicious 60th birthday.
At ThaiBev, we take great pride in our Thai heritage, and are keen to share it with the world, especially via platforms that are highly visible to tourists that visit the country. We have therefore supported activities that showcase the diverse facets of Thai arts and culture, and sponsored Thai artists in various fields, such as painting, sculpture, Thai classical music, international music, and photography. The sports arena is another area we are passionate about. ThaiBev has continuously sponsored various sports programs and teams for over the past 20 years, not just locally, but internationally too. We also look to foster sportsmanship among athletes, especially youths, in order to equip them to better contribute to society in the future.
Finally, in the environmental sphere, we are dedicated to caring for the environment and have set clear targets for our efforts to minimize pollution and emissions of waste into the ecosystem. In 2015, we established a working group to analyze water-centric matters and create action plans for better water resource management and usage over the short and long term. Besides advocating ecological health, we are also stepping up our drive to promote healthier drinks, developing new products such as sugar-free or low-sugar variants of our non-alcoholic beverages. This also helps us to meet the increasing demand for such drinks among consumers who are becoming increasingly health-conscious.
Sustainability has always been core to our business and the way we execute our plans. To ensure that we remain a sustainable business and become even more adept at it, we conducted a survey in 2015, polling various stakeholders for their feedback on sustainability-related issues, as well as to deepen our understanding of the matters that they deem interesting and important. All their views and ideas are being considered, and we will take steps to enhance our performance.
I would like to express my gratitude to the Board of Directors, the management team, the Corporate Sustainability Development Committee, as well as all employees and stakeholders for their strong support to sustainable development. With sound principles as the bedrock of ThaiBev’s business, we are able to conduct ourselves and carry out operations with corporate social responsibility undergirding our every action. The extensive cooperation between personnel within the organization and external stakeholders from across various sectors strengthens our resolve to be a stellar corporate citizen while steering our business forward sustainably, in a manner that impacts society positively in the long run.
Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi
President and CEO
As of date 31 December 2015
