Hyundai E&C leads CSR at home and abroad

Hyundai E&C, a building arm under Hyundai Motor Group, has been leading corporate social responsibility activities (CSR) at home and abroad.

The company raised "Love Sharing Fund" campaign and donated 347 million won to the charity this year.

The annual fundraising activity, which started out as a CSR program in 2010, has involved a total of over 3,200 employees including 707 from its affiliates.

They voluntarily chipped in a bit of their salaries every month ranging from 3,000 won up to 30,000 won for the whole year and donated them for various charity campaigns to support surgery for children with severe disabilities, repair houses of the underprivileged in Jongno-gu at home.

It will be also used to improve the living conditions of slums in Uzbekistan, deliver solar powered lanterns to Uganda refugees, and help Indonesian poor to secure drinking water.

Hyundai E&C has accrued a total of 1.4 billion won from the campaign so far. With the 530 million won it raised in 2010, the company spent it on four CSR programs including the construction of community center in the Philippines in following year.

In 2012, it raised a total of 206 million won and 329 million won in 2013.

Hyundai E&C expanded its CSR campaigns to other Asian and African nations in 2011 and now is actively engaged in 18 global CSR activities in 13 countries.

In Colombia, it began to support the young basketball talents in 2012 and expanded it to other activities to improve living condition and hygiene and safety education in the country in 2013. In April, it opened Happy Home School for children from poor families in the suburb of Soacha in Bogota, Columbia.

The company through the Light of Hope campaign delivered some 1,300 lanterns to elementary school students in Uganda as well. The solar powered lanterns made by 90 newly recruited employees were given to the students who are living in the dark mud houses, together with handwritten letters.

"We are fast expanding into the emerging new market, whose portion has grown up to 62 percent at present. In line with the market diversification, we pay great effort to engage in various CSR campaigns in each country in a bid to contribute to respective markets," said a company official. "With the Uganda and Columbia we actively started out CSR programs this year, we will also continue our campaigns in Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan."

-By Park Jin-hai