Press Releases
14 April 2014
Khazanah issues 2013 Corporate Responsibility (“CR”) Report, celebrates 20-year anniversary
Khazanah also reaffirmed its pledge to deepen and expand its corporate responsibility initiatives via the newly incorporated Yayasan Hasanah.
The foundation is a strategic approach to support and empower communities, encourage social inclusivity and improve local environments. The establishment of Yayasan Hasanah is significant as Khazanah celebrates 20 years in operation and stands at the cusp of completing ten years of its transformation programme to boost Malaysia’s economic competitiveness and growth.
While Khazanah will focus on creating value and growth for Malaysia as well as improving Malaysia’s global competitiveness, Yayasan Hasanah will focus on strengthening social and human capital and addressing the most pressing issues that Malaysia faces.
Khazanah Managing Director Tan Sri Dato’ Azman Hj. Mokhtar who officially launched the 2013 CR Report, said: “This year is particularly meaningful as we celebrate our 20th anniversary and a decade of transformation. We are cognisant of the need to continue to build capacity, institutionalise and create value across all fronts, as well as support the broader national developmental agenda.”
“This is in line with Khazanah’s vision to create and deliver strategic returns, not just about financial profits,” he added.
Yayasan Hasanah will consolidate while expanding Khazanah’s existing CR work in five core areas, namely Education; Community Development; Environment; Arts, Heritage & Culture; and Knowledge.
The foundation will focus on working with local partners because Khazanah believes in strengthening local capacities and community ownership to ensure the sustainability of the initiatives. Yayasan Hasanah will play an enabling and catalytic role, and will strive to support and strengthen the capacity of its partners while employing Khazanah’s frameworks and execution discipline.
Yayasan Hasanah also aims to demonstrate and measure the social and environmental impact of its activities, which largely focused on assisting the lower income segments of society. An endowment from Khazanah will ensure Yayasan Hasanah’s sustainability for future generations.
The 2013 CR Report, the fifth since 2009, maps out the various CR initiatives that Khazanah and partner organisations completed in 2013. Khazanah spent RM80.5 million on CR initiatives in 2013, either through implementing its own programmes or through funding partner organisations, compared to RM62.4 million spent in 2012.
The increase in spending last year was also due to the Healthcare Assistance Fund, a fund which was set up with the cooperation of Khazanah’s investee company IHH Healthcare Berhad. An amount of RM50 million was set aside when IHH Healthcare went public in 2012. About RM16 million was allocated out in 2013.
Funds were also allocated for flood relief and disaster preparedness in 2013 for affected communities in Malaysia. Since 2006, Khazanah has invested a total of RM335 million in CR initiatives.
One of the key initiatives this year, will be the continuous efforts to build capacity of its CSPOs. Through the CR Grants Programme, CSPOs will be able to broaden their impact by strengthening their service delivery, governance and financial sustainability. The CR Grants Programme will be carried out in two cycles annually, and to kick start the awards this year, Yayasan Hasanah has already selected the 2014 Cycle 1 grant recipients.
The existing CSPOs recipients under Cycle 1 are OrphanCARE Foundation, MERCY Malaysia, Persatuan Pengasih Malaysia, Voice of the Children, Yayasan Chow Kit, Johan Cruyff Foundation, Teach for Malaysia, Enactus Malaysia Foundation, Reef Check Malaysia and EcoKnights. The new CSPO recipient this year is TECH Outreach Malaysia.
The Small Grants Programme was introduced this year with two partner organisations, EduNation and TReeS, receiving small grants from Yayasan Hasanah. Civil society organisations and institutions that are interested to work with Yayasan Hasanah are invited to write to Khazanah at [email protected].
The Khazanah-Wolfson Press Fellowship Programme, established last year in a joint venture with Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, to further develop journalism in Malaysia, is extended this year with two more senior journalists admitted into the programme. The successful applicants for the 2014 April intake are Cindy Yeap, assistant editor of The Edge and Abdul Razak Ahmad Idris, assistant news editor at The Star.
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