March 13, 2007

United Nations Global Compact (GC) has listed Engro Chemical Pakistan Limited for providing one of the five best notable Communication on Progress (COP) in chemical sector from around the world. This has placed a Pakistani company for the first time in top five companies of the world having submitted the Notable COPs with the Global Compact.

A ceremony in this regard was organized by the United Nations Global Compact Local Network Pakistan in association with Empolyers’ Federation of Pakistan in which Engro was presented with the shield for being among the world’s top 5 UN Global Compact Notable COPs in Chemical Sector.

The award was presented by the Chairman of UNGC Pakistan Network Ashraf W. Tabani to Tahir Jawaid, General Manager of Engro Chemical Pakistan Limited where Fasih Karim Siddiqui, Secretary, Global Compact Pakistan Local Network and Wajid Hussain Junejo, Public Affairs Manager, Engro Chemical were also present.

It may be recalled that the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan had announced “The United Nations Global Compact” initiative in 1999 to bring companies together with UN agencies to support universal environmental and social principles.

A total of 3,958 companies from all across the globe have responded to this call to support and advocate the ten principles of the Global Compact in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. Out of these, 61 companies are operating in Pakistan.

The Global Compact is a purely voluntary initiative with the objectives to mainstream the ten principles in business activities around the world and catalyse actions in support of UN goals.

The Global Compact offers facilitation and engagement through several mechanisms: Policy Dialogues, Learning, Country/Regional Networks, and Partnership Projects in order to achieve these objectives.

The companies who sign-up to the Global Compact are required to submit their first Communication on Progress (COP) within two year of joining the entity. Thereafter, they are again required to submit their COP after a lapse of every 12 months showing their initiatives in environmental, economic and social sectors. The COPs are carefully reviewed by the United Nations Global Compact at their headquarters in New York and those meeting the set criteria of the GC are given the status of “Notable COP”.

Additional Information

The Communication on Progress (COP) is a description of actions taken by participants in support of the Global Compact. The COP is expected annually of all participating companies, and must be shared publicly with stakeholders – through annual financial, sustainability or other prominent public reports, in print or on the participant’s website.

The purpose of the COP requirement is both to ensure and deepen the commitment of Global Compact participants and to safeguard the integrity of the initiative. It also aims to create a rich repository of corporate practices that serves as basis for learning and continuous performance improvement.