PepsiCo, a leading food and beverage company, was the platinum sponsor for the 'Saudi Arabia CSR Summit' held recently in Jeddah, in partnership with organisers IIR Middle East.

The forum, which was held for the first time in Saudi Arabia, gathered regional and international business leaders, marketing directors and CSR practitioners who participated in an integrated program of Q&As roundtables and panels.

Commenting on PepsiCo’s approach to CSR, Mustafa Shamseldin, senior marketing director, said: “We believe that good for all is good for business and that CSR can be fully integrated into the business strategy.”

“We continually look to find innovative ways to minimise our impact on the environment and lower our costs through energy and water conservation and reduce the use of packaging material. Providing a safe and inclusive workplace for our employees and respecting, supporting and investing in the local communities in which we operate,” he stated.

At the summit, Shamseldin spoke about ‘The Social Responsibility of Marketing,’ highlighting the role of marketers in terms of influencing society and contributing to the sustainable development of local communities.

“As our business continues to develop around the world, our promise of ‘Performance with Purpose’ fuels our growth and allows us to stay one step ahead. We believe in continuous improvement and we are pursuing and adopting new technologies and innovations to continually adapt and grow to serve the communities in which we operate for the long-term,” said Shamseldin.

He pointed out that social responsibility is a multi-stakeholder process, which should be promoted from the home to the school and from the government to the business community, so that through socially responsible investments we can begin to tackle our regions socio-economic challenges. - TradeArabia News Service