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Tuesday, 12 October 2021 13:48

FUNDEMAS started the Sustainability and CSR Week

Written by Evelyn Alas

This morning, the Fundación Empresarial para la Acción Social (FUNDEMAS) started its most important event of the year: Sustainability and CSR Week, which this time is called “Ecosistemas para la Sostenibilidad 2021”. 

Different companies, public institutions, civil society organizations and academia participated in this activity, and listened to prominent speakers who talked about the importance of knowing the sustainability megatrends that are being developed in El Salvador, the region and the world.

Tomás Regalado, president of FUNDEMAS welcomed the attendees to this important event for sustainable development in El Salvador. He explained the relevance of creating sustainable ecosystems for a better future. "Our human ecosystem is almost always fractured and then in harmony, and vice versa. That is why we must understand how other actors act in order to seek harmony. Entrepreneurs almost always focus on economic objectives.

But to find the ecosystemic balance we must seek harmony between economic, social and environmental objectives", said Regalado.

The event was attended by the director of strategy at the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad de Concepción de Chile, who gave the first lecture of the day, called “Ecosistemas para la Sostenibilidad”. "Countries and their states must coordinate with the private sector and academia to embrace the ODS. If this is achieved, the quality of innovation will be higher; visions become more social in the medium and long term. The ODSs are the best summary of what are the necessary objectives for humanity to take a leap forward, but also to protect itself from threats", said the academic.

Another of the other outstanding presentations of the opening day was given by Eduardo Valente, executive director and leading partner of business and technology consulting, EY Chile, who explained that technology is taking human beings to another level of knowledge, productivity, communication and relationships, which is redefining the way of working, socializing and relating.

"We have seen several waves of technology in recent years, which have created megatrends that shape the world of work. It has always been difficult for organizational leaders to plan for megatrends. The primary causes of disruption are technology, globalization, demographics and environment, which are not new, but they evolve in waves and each new wave is disruptive in a different way. The invitation is to rethink the strategy of companies to create a better future now", said the EY Chile executive.

Companies such as Diana and Walmart Mexico and Central America, and institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) had their participation in the development of the first day of CSR Week 2021 Claudia de Ibáñez, representative of Country Walmart of Mexico and Central America, said that:

"We want to have a country with hope and developed where we can have opportunities. We cannot have different results if we continue doing the same thing", said Claudia De Ibañez.

Armando Mendiola, General Manager of Productos Alimenticios DIANA, explained that the company is redirecting its strategy and resizing its business area.

"This opens up a huge opportunity to find out what our customers currently need", he said.

Yuri Soares head of Strategy and Impact of IDB Lab (IDB) Washington, District of Columbia, United States, spoke about the launch of the "Vision 2025" strategy, with which they seek to leverage SMEs and the entrepreneurial ecosystem, to achieve growth in the region. "We are betting on digitalization. We also want to further integrate the region's markets with other trading partners. And of course, we work on resilience and climate change", he said.

"We have no evidence of countries that have achieved sustainable growth without developing industries and the innovation ecosystem in a constant way, consistent with public policies, with integration of the private and public sector. We have to bet on strengthening human capital, investing in education, in digital tools and the capacity of our people to be able to bring innovation forward", said Yuri Soares.

Luis Rodríguez, Director of CABEI El Salvador, mentioned that CABEI has a vision that seeks to integrate all the actors that make up a development ecosystem, including the public and private sectors and communities.

"Investment portfolios are being prepared that tie together the public and private sectors with the aim of promoting investment by our entrepreneurs and that the bank accompanies this from the beginning, until we ensure that it is sustainable", said Luis Rodríguez.

To close the first day of Sustainability and CSR Week 2021, Gloria María Estrada Álvarez, Vice-President of Riesgos de Suramericana S.A gave a presentation on the concept of planetary health: "Planetary Health is a concept focused on characterizing the impacts on well-being, equity and human health caused by anthropic alterations to the earth's natural systems, and on identifying and developing activities that generate mitigation and adaptation", said Gloria Estrada.

The second day of the event will be held on October 12. This will be under the concept of current market trends, new consumption habits, new rules, and how we take advantage of new opportunities.

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