Stakeholder Engagement

"C.P. Group can contribute to enhancing the country’s competitiveness by developing education and public health infrastructures, and co-investing with the government in the right sectors. To enhance the Group’s competitiveness, the agro-industry sector is a stable value sector, and future investments need to consider long-term sustainability. Technology and retail businesses are fast growing sectors; therefore, it is necessary for C.P. Group to increase value and utilize new business approaches, while ensuring that their businesses in these sectors will not be disrupted, and that they can handle various levels of changes. Today, C.P. Group has strength in sustainability. This will play an important role in the market, as businesses must not push the burden of sustainability to consumers in order to increase their profits. Instead, they must be responsible to the society. Here, C.P. Group has done well by choosing sustainability as the key goal of the organization."

"Overall, C.P. Group’s sustainability strategy is good in that it covers the challenges concerning health and sustainable development. However, we must enhance our consideration for other environmental variables, such as nitrogen and phosphorus buildup and soil erosion, and revise those targets that are linked to impact valuations. For examples, the target to develop 30% new products that promote health and well-being is good but might not be enough. C.P. Group should strive to eliminate the most damaging products, or improve upon them, and assess whether these better products are consumed or used to replace other products. Likewise, we should encourage consumers to eat better foods, and find ways to make these foods easily accessible, affordable, and attractive. For example, this could include plant-based alternatives for protein. The World Business Council on Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) 2050 Vision will be disclosed in depth with further details about future trends and changes that will impact businesses, and we encourage involvement through the WBCSD platform.”

"The success of the partnership between the local community and C.P. Group on marine resources conservation and restoration, and on improving the lives of our local fishermen, happened because C.P. Group came in to work with us. Before the partnership, the local villagers relied only on their own ideas – much like having a body with no heart or head, and no way to walk forward. However, once C.P. Group came in with their community relations team, they brought in the heart and the brain to complete the picture. This helped nurture the local fishermen’s ideas, enabled us to work together in harmony, and gave us strength and ability. As a result, our conservation work to increase the number of aquatic animals, produce food, and generate income, could move forward on secure footing. We now see the genuine commitment of C.P. Group who, despite the many obstacles encountered over the past three years, did not leave this area behind. As for what I want to see improved in our collaboration going forward, I would like the projects to continue with genuine commitment. Prior to this, various organizations and private sector agencies would just come into the area for a short-term project, or they would pause or terminate their work as soon as they encountered problems. Because of this, our communities and networks became reluctant to work with the private sector. What’s very important is for the Company to also integrate the perspectives and needs of the community into their operational framework, so that the projects or activities that we undertake together will achieve the targets that we set and create sustainability for both the Company and the community.”

"Sustainable development refers to the balanced development of societies, communities, environmental ecology, the economy, and governance. In turn, this translates to continuity, equality, inclusiveness, and responsibility for the environment, economy, and society. In all of this, we have to consider the education of the next generations, because the majority of agricultural families still lack the opportunity to access basic education. We must also consider stakeholder engagement, because the participation of all people in society is what will drive development – much more so than conflicting viewpoints. Engagement is also vital for development given our limited natural resources – soil, water, forests, and biodiversity; for balancing the needs of different generations, especially when the elderly population is growing; and for the new generation to have a role in determining their futures. C.P. Group is a large business, with a highly interconnected supply chain that is strong in every regard. Because of this, the Company must look back and take responsibility for solving problems, and show accountability for all processes in their supply chain. They must strive to restore the biodiversity of ecosystems such as tropical forest and coastal ecosystems, and also connect cultures and communities using modern technology. C.P. Group has strong capabilities in trade, business management, and investment, and so they must connect with civil society and communities to foster joint development for sustainability.”

“The interesting thing about this year’s entries is that most of them deliberated on the benefits that could be created from upstream to downstream throughout the supply chain. They center more on the value chain, which is a good thing and should be applauded. When we talk about sustainability, we must take into account the significance of both internal and external stakeholders as they are the key in running a business under the principle of sustainability. On another note, more entries have been submitted by overseas business groups this year. These projects carry the unique characteristics of their originating countries, and they point out the importance of Charoen Pokphand Group’s role in making investments to create benefit and improve the quality of life for people in these countries.”

I see the genuine determination of Charoen Pokphand Group’s employees reflected in projects that benefit the society in various dimensions of sustainability. In education, for instance, we have received a proposal for an in-depth project that requires skill development for people in the community so that they may apply the acquired knowledge to create a living. There are also projects which place more importance on improving the quality of life for people with disabilities and the underprivileged.

Furthermore, projects from overseas business groups demonstrate a more systematic way of thinking. We have seen projects that integrate technological education with agriculture. I applaud C.P. Group for allowing employees to truly and sustainably create benefit for the Thai people in parallel with driving the Group’s business growth.”

Sustainability must consist of dimensions that take into account or at least cover social, environmental, and human value aspects with the economy as the driving force. Sustainability must help people to achieve the goal of self-reliance and self-determination with dignity without being subject to risks from other factors to the point of inability to regain oneself. Sustainability must also be able to answer to a better quality of life for both individuals and the society. We should be able to connect human and other resources together to empower each other, leading to greater capabilities.

With Charoen Pokphand Group’s immense potential, all sectors are confident that the Group will be able to further continue this success in development and accelerate social development which will lead to more rapid partnerships. There may be the need to increase resources, especially on-the-ground resources, budget, space, and technology, in order to upgrade development. The level of synergy within the Group should also be raised so that the direction of policies and management accurately responds to sustainable development in the social sector. C.P. Group has attached higher importance to this issue especially at the operational level where more process to create partnerships is required.

“As Thailand’s largest company and one of the biggest conglomerates in the world, Charoen Pokphand Group can impact the lives of millions of people every day. By making respect for human rights a core element of its business operations and relationships, C.P. Group has the opportunity to transform people’s lives in a positive way while building trust with stakeholders and strengthening its business success.

In 2019, Mr. Suphachai Cheravanont, CEO of C.P. Group, was one of the first senior business executives to endorse WBCSD’s Call to Action for Business Leadership on Human Rights. A year later, C.P. Group took the lead in creating a Thai edition of WBCSD’s CEO Guide to Human Rights, promoting the importance of corporate respect for human rights among its own businesses and the Thai business community. We applaud C.P. Group for being an example of business leadership on promoting respect for human rights, and encourage the company to continue strengthening its efforts to address the human rights issues that may result from its operations, business relationships, products and services.”