The UAE government seeks to ensure AED500 million in financial aid and in-kind support by UAE-based companies in furtherance of their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility during 2017, according to Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy.

The minister made the statements while opening a session on declaring the CSR results for 2017 as part of the National Strategy for the Year of Giving which comprises over 1,000 initiatives and programmes that cover six main themes, CSR, volunteerism, the developmental role of humanitarian organisations, legislative systems and government policies, media, and serving the nation.

The meeting occasioned the launch of the "Annual Corporate Social Responsibility National Index" to track companies in the UAE based on the percentage of their contributions to CSR initiatives.

The minister added that the declaration of the CSR results for 2017 is particularly important for being significant part of the UAE’s ‘Year of Giving’. "The wise leadership is taking a number of relevant steps to develop an integrated framework aimed at spreading the initiative’s principles and encouraging active participation of the government and private sectors at the institutional and individual levels.," he noted.

The government is keen on building a more systematic CSR methodology by offering incentives and monitoring, and putting key indicators into place that measure the initiatives’ progress and their benefit to society, he added.

The meeting was attended by a number of top executives from the Ministry of Economy and other state departments along with private sector representatives and CSR specialists.