Chargé d'Affaires Michael Heath has affirmed the United States' commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as part of its “soft diplomacy” to strengthen ties with Thailand.
Michael Heath, the US embassy's chargé d'affaires and acting ambassador, stressed that American companies in Thailand conform to sustainable business practices.
“Modeling respect for labour and safety rights, practising good governance and investing in their people and communities, thereby demonstrating our commitment to corporate social responsibility. Some examples included companies that built fences in Thai national parks to protect wildlife, cleaned plastic waste from rivers, planted mangrove trees along coastlines, and provided access to the disabled,” he said.
The 2019 American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) CSR Excellence Recognition Award Thanksgiving Dinner was held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok. Companies were given awards for various categories, including the Thai-US partnership, the national development campaign and the CSR project.
Mr Heath underlined the importance of CSR policies in contrast to the recent high-level meetings, such as the East Asia Summit, the US-Asean Summit and the Indo-Pacific Business Summit, which he described as “hard diplomacy”.
“Sometimes, we underestimate the tremendous impact of soft diplomacy undertaken by you [American companies] through these kinds of CSR activities, creating a brighter future for people of both countries. You, as Amcham Thailand members, serve as unofficial American diplomats every day, building prosperity, trust, and friendship between Thailand and America,” he said.
When asked about the removal of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) tariff exemption, Mr Heath played down concerns and assured Thailand it will win it back after it improves governance for migrant workers.
“Part of the requirement of the GSP is you have to meet the international standard of labour law. We have the US labour organisation filing the complaint in 2013 that migrant workers are not allowed to form a union. We feel that they are not earning as much wages as they should and that's making it less competitive for our companies,” he told the Bangkok Post.
Meanwhile, Amcham President Gregory Bastien said good governance can improve the economic relationship between the two countries.
“It can lower any type of commercial issues that concern [American] companies, such as intellectual property and access to resources. We are also trying to set an example of environmental sustainability. Whatever standard we have in the US, we have it here, for example, the ISO cert and solar power,” he said.
Also at the event, the WHA Group received the People Choice's Award for its wastewater management program for the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate. David Richard Nardone, the group executive of WHA Industrial Development Plc, said the initiative uses the natural process to clean wastewater for local communities.