Tal Peking, Kina 14 april 2008
Ewa Björling, Handelsminister

Anförande på engelska av handelsminister Ewa Björling vid "the Sino-Swedish Highlevel Roundtable on CSR"

Minister Li Rongrong, Prime Minister Reinfeldt, Honoured Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As the Swedish minister in charge of Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, it is indeed a great privilege to be able to participate in this roundtable meeting with representatives of leading Chinese and Swedish enterprises.

The commitment between our two governments for a more profound dialogue on Corporate Social Responsibility is manifested in the Memorandum of Understanding signed in Stockholm during the state visit by President Hu Jintao last year. It encompasses dialogue and sharing experiences on best practices in companies, about working conditions and work safety, consumers' rights and consumers' protection, the contribution of business to better environmental protection, energy saving and decreased pollution of water and air. Another item of particular importance is to combat corruption.

Globalisation is here to stay - and is moving more quickly and in fact many argue that progress will never be as slow as it is today.

More and more countries take advantage of the opportunities and benefits inherent in globalisation.

Sweden and China share a belief in free trade and global integration. In Sweden, development and wealth originated from, and still depend on, international economic exchange.

Globalisation offers greater opportunities for trade and investments across borders. For governments and companies, there are also many new challenges. The map of how business is conducted has been redrawn - many companies all over the world have learned the hard lesson of not acting in a responsible way - and have also experienced the benefits of showing responsibility.

Promotion of corporate social responsibility is an important link between two cornerstones of Swedish policy: an open trade policy and a foreign and development policy that strongly emphasises the importance of human rights and a sustainable global development

CSR is by definition a voluntary undertaking, and rightly so. It should be business-owned and business-driven, but do governments have a role to play in this important process? The answer is; yes, absolutely.

Apart from providing the necessary legal framework and making sure that laws and universal instruments are adhered to, governments can stimulate forums for dialogue and exchange of experiences on good practices.

As governments, we can endorse and recognise good practices, we can provide information on CSR instruments - as our two governments already do - and we can help to build capacity as well as to form partnerships with businesses.

One example of how governments and business can collaborate is the CEO Water Mandate. It originated as an initiative by the Swedish Government, together with the UN Global Compact, on how business operators could contribute to finding sustainable solutions to the global water challenge. Large and small businesses responded and formed the CEO Water Mandate. Today, this initiative, is run by business operators, themselves.
I am glad that the Mandate has been translated into Chinese and the report is available here at the roundtable.

Macro-economic stability, social inclusion, environmental protection and corporate responsibility are not conflicting objectives. On the contrary, the objectives towards responsible competitiveness and a harmonious society are mutually reinforcing.

Some argue that corporate social responsibility has made slow progress. Others fear that it will be used as a non-tariff barrier, closing off export opportunities under the pretext of social and environmental conditions. Indeed the very term 'corporate' itself suggests something relevant only to large multinationals, not small and medium-sized enterprises.

But CSR is not a tool for protectionism or something that is only relevant to big multinationals. On the contrary, I see responsible business practices as an important, complementary tool to free trade.

Governments must make sure that demands for CSR do not squeeze out small producers or serve as a non-tariff barrier, excluding developing countries from global markets.

One way to prevent CSR from being used as a tool for protectionism is to start from and promote internationally negotiated and universally accepted norms. For Sweden, CSR is about establishing a level of decency in business as defined in the Principles of the UN Global Compact and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

The strength and legitimacy of these two instruments derive from the internationally accepted UN declarations; Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ILO Core Conventions.

I believe that CSR is a decisive part of a development that will help remove scepticism towards globalisation.

There is a clear business case for behaving responsibly and setting good examples. Supply chain management is a crucial issue for businesses large or small. Consumers, as well as business partners, shareholders, and - increasingly - employees, request a well-managed supply chain.

We are all aware of the harmful effects of corruption. It distorts competition, makes it more difficult to develop trade relations and deters investments. Therefore, it is important that companies comply with the tenth principle of the UN Global Compact, which says that companies should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

Within the framework of the recently signed Memorandum on CSR, we will be able to develop a fruitful dialogue between our respective business communities on such matters as how to develop their integrity instruments and thereby contribute to the fight against corruption.

The joint Sino-Swedish website on CSR that was launched today also offers hands-on tools for businesses on how to avoid corruption.

As a growing supplier of the world's merchandise exports, with a massive consumer market, and as an important global investor, China has a major role to play in shaping globalisation.

An increasing number of Swedish enterprises are establishing business relationships in China, which has created a growing demand for a dialogue on ways to implement responsible business practices.

The Swedish business community in China pursues an ambitious implementation of CSR practices here and is an important partner in our bilateral cooperation in this field.

The dialogue between our Government and the Chinese government on corporate social responsibility during the last five years has created an important forum for the exchange of experiences and dialogue on different aspects of CSR.

The MOU is an important step towards establishing a framework for our cooperation in this field. This morning, together with the Chinese Minister of Commerce Mr Chen Deming, I had the honour of inaugurating a Joint Sino-Swedish website on CSR cooperation, which will serve as a resource for Chinese companies that are interested in knowing more about CSR and implementing it into their business practises. We also jointly launched the kick-off of the first comprehensive training programme for high officials on CSR, together with several business representatives.

Through the website, Chinese and Swedish companies will be able to access information free of charge on internationally recognised tools for implementing CSR, as well as on best practices from Chinese and Swedish companies.

The training programme that was launched today is an ambitious joint effort for increasing CSR awareness. The first part will take place this week, and will encompass a wide range of CSR-related themes as well as close co-operation with companies here in China and in Sweden. It will be followed by visits to study Swedish and Chinese companies in China where the participants will be able to see how other companies have made CSR practices part of their business.

CSR raises complex issues and many companies are now exploring how to put principles and guidelines into practice. I imagine that the situation in China is similar to the one in Sweden. That is why I appreciate the practical approach our two countries have taken regarding our CSR co-operation.

This afternoon, I look forward to learning about the way you, the representatives of enterprises, have chosen to act in a responsible way and which challenges you meet within your respective fields of business.

Thank you!