An opportunity in the making

On the populist side, the multinational has taken a drubbing in recent years as abject manifestation of corporate greed. The Economist recently ran an editorial indicting CSR as at best unnecessary, and at worst, itself a form of market failure.

While rich in oil, the Middle East is extremely poor in jobs; The World Bank recently estimated 100-million job deficit in MENA countries over the next 20 years. There is a massive need for technology transfer and training in services; a number of countries in the region are moving to attract foreign investment through political reform, better management and increased transparency.

New Connections

While Middle Eastern tastes are becoming broader, the consumer is becoming ever more sophisticated and demanding to be treated as something other than an extension of a larger market. Lack of accountability and economic opportunity is clearly related to the growth of extremist ideologies. In CSR language, we're really talking here about creating jobs and corporate governance structures; about facilitating technology-transfer and consumer engagement.

One needs only look to the daily Middle East press and a few modest but wildly successful corporate-backed regional development and technical training programs (Canadian Occidental's community health and education programs in Yemen in the 90's, Esso's young professional training programs in North Africa in the late 60s, to cite but two examples) to see the effects of corporate action on profits, regional integration and stability in what has traditionally been the bailiwick of more traditional development and aid organisations.

New Connections

If CSR can position itself as a framework and a movement championing active, community oriented growth initiatives, the Middle East, for its mix of needs and resources, offers a perfect proving ground for the compatibility of rentability and responsibility. In order for CSR itself to have a future, the emphasis must not be on philanthropy, but rather in facilitating the creation of new connections and new business models that cut across traditional boundaries.

Ishtirak will be supporting the 2nd Annual Middle East Corporate Social Responsibility Summit, 5-8 June, Dubai.