DPM Heng Swee Keat at the NVPC Company of Good Conferment Ceremony 2024

Mr Seah Chin Siong, Chairman, National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre or NVPC,
Mr Tony Soh, CEO, NVPC,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to be in the company of good people! I thank NVPC for inviting me to join you and your partners in recognising companies that have done good. 

Seven years back, in 2017, I spoke at the very first Champions of Good Recognition Event.

At that inaugural ceremony, we recognised 45 companies for their corporate giving.

As we just heard from Chin Siong, this year’s ceremony is the first since NVPC rolled out its Company of Good 2.0 strategy in 2023 and enhanced its Company of Good recognition system.

This expanded system places renewed emphasis on corporate purpose – that enterprises can, and should, pursue profit and growth in ways that uplift people, strengthen our societies, and protect our planet.

It recognises 2 important points about purposeful businesses.

One, that there are more ways than one for companies to catalyse positive impact.

Two, that every company – big or small, start-up or established enterprise – can be a changemaker.

And I am heartened to hear that close to 300 companies are being recognised this year, more than 6 times the number we started with in 2017.
 
And more than half of this year’s recipients are small and medium enterprises, or SMEs.

I thank Chin Siong, Janet Ang, Tony and members of the Alliance for Action on Corporate Purpose for putting out the Corporate Purpose Framework and Blueprint that guided this new expanded recognition system.

I congratulate all recipients this year for the good work you are doing. I was happy to meet some of you earlier and hear about your reflections and plans to do even more good going forward.

78 of you will be recognised as Champions of Good later this evening.

More than 200 of you have already received your 1, 2 and 3-Heart Company of Good recognitions earlier today.

Indeed, you should take pride that the hearts you received today are a testament to the many hearts in your companies that are touching the lives of so many people.

The Company of Good scheme recognises that the private sector is a key player in developing Singapore into a “City of Good”.

Around the world, companies operate in a very competitive environment. To survive, you must first and foremost do well.

Companies attract capital and people to serve their customer segments.
 
Doing this well allows you to make profits and expand and upgrade your operations. 

And companies need to also do right – to observe all the rules and regulations, good corporate governance, and to operate ethically and responsibly. This builds trust with your partners.

And with all the talent that the company has attracted and capabilities that it has built, you can also do good. 

Increasingly, more people are paying attention to this.

A clear and strong corporate purpose enables a company to attract, recruit and retain talent, and to also appeal to a wider segment of customers.

For example, Deloitte’s 2024 Global Gen-Z and Millennial survey found that roughly 9 in 10 Gen-Zs and millennials cite a sense of purpose as somewhat or very important to their overall job satisfaction.

Around 75% also said that an organisation’s community engagement and societal impact is an important factor when considering a potential employer.

Here in Singapore, we are fortunate to have had a long-standing tradition of purpose-driven corporate and business leaders.

Some of our earliest pioneer business leaders were outstanding philanthropists and community-builders. 

Tan Kah Kee, for instance, was an advocate of education and helped to found several schools that are highly regarded today, including Tao Nan School and Ai Tong School.

P. Govindasamy Pillai, who was engaged in retail, founded the Ramakrishna Mission to support the needy. 

He was also one of the founding members of the Indian Chamber of Commerce that supported and nurtured other businesses.

Indeed, pioneers like them are role models of “Champions of Good”.

More recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw how enterprises rallied to support their workers, customers and communities with real impact.

And business leaders, including from some of the companies represented here today, stepped forward to work alongside Government on the Emerging Stronger Taskforce to chart Singapore’s recovery from the pandemic.

By leaning into a purpose beyond their own profits, and working with one another and with Government, these business leaders showed how we can make the best use of a crisis to build strengths, become more resilient, and emerge stronger.

Looking forward, we cannot predict how the future will evolve.
 
But we can be certain that there will be new crises and new challenges. We face a range of emerging challenges that will have implications for countries, economies and businesses globally.

We must, for example, prepare to tackle the challenges of maintaining public health amid aging populations, addressing climate change, and harnessing the digital revolution.

But challenges are also opportunities. Businesses must also refresh and renew your corporate purpose and work towards achieving your purpose. 

The Alliance for Action has done very well in expanding the definition of corporate purpose, to cover the five impact areas of People, Society, Governance, Environment and Economic.

I am glad that Singapore companies are already actively engaging with their corporate purpose.

For example, the 2024 Company of Good Cohort Report finds that this year’s recipients have cumulatively contributed almost 800,000 volunteer hours over the past year, supporting groups such as the elderly and low-income families.

79% of this year’s recipients have also adopted energy conservation or efficiency measures, and around one third have invested in research and development to reduce environmental impact.

It is especially commendable that SMEs are pivoting their business models to achieve impact in some of these areas.

Take, for example, Social Gifting which is recognised as a Champion of Good this year.

Through its innovative e-commerce platform, and by partnering with SG Enable, SPD and Rainbow Centre, Social Gifting empowers differently-abled and senior gift crafters, providing job opportunities and home-based assignments for seniors and people with disabilities who may be at risk of social isolation.

The crafted gifts also promote responsible consumption through the use of upcycling materials and repurposing used items. 

Social Gifting is a good example of how SMEs, too, can build a clear corporate purpose as you do business, and have positive impact on people and the planet.

And there is much more that our enterprises can do.
 
By catalysing and enabling positive change in the five impact areas in the new framework, businesses can also help to make our society more inclusive and resilient.

On the part of Government, the Forward Singapore movement seeks to refresh our social compact, and write the next chapter of the Singapore Story.

Everyone, including businesses, has a role to play in realising our Forward Singapore goals and aspirations, and in building Singapore into a City of Good.

So as we celebrate and recognise the accomplishments of this year’s recipients, let me also suggest a few ways that we can do even more good. 

As I mentioned earlier, every action by every company – big or small – counts. 

And often, by working together, we can amplify the impact of our efforts.

How then can we channel our enterprises’ energies and dynamism towards impactful corporate purpose that can shape a better Singapore?

First, we can provide tools to companies, and SMEs in particular, to scale up and expand their impact.

Transforming with a corporate purpose, and adjusting business models, needs resources. 

We can work together to achieve benefits and lower the costs, especially for SMEs. 

For example, DBS is collaborating with NVPC and the Singapore Business Federation to extend its Business for Impact Banking Package to eligible SMEs that are recognised as Companies or Champions of Good.

DBS first rolled out a social enterprise banking package in 2009 to support businesses with a double bottom-line of profit and purpose.

To date, DBS Foundation has provided 140 social enterprises and SMEs with grants, mentoring, networks and preferential solutions such as the Business for Impact Banking Package, to help them scale up.

By extending the package to eligible Companies and Champions of Good, the banking package aims to encourage all companies – beyond social enterprises – to be businesses for good impact.

In doing so, DBS, itself a 2024 Champion of Good, is amplifying good impact by enabling other enterprises to do good. 

Second, we can establish industry-level standards and share best practices on purpose-driven business.

In this regard, larger enterprises with a wider network can serve as force multipliers for stronger corporate purpose.

By setting new standards for responsible and sustainable business practices, they bring their partners and suppliers along on this journey.

For example, NVPC has initiated a pilot programme with Sodexo, a global food services company, to propagate sustainable procurement practices.

Leveraging NVPC’s Company of Good recognition framework, the pilot will assess the current sustainability and environmental impact of Sodexo’s overall supply chain.

By identifying areas of improvement, all the stakeholders can make their procurement more sustainable.

Third, all companies, especially those which are new, can learn from one another’s experiences and tap on their respective knowledge, resources and strengths. 

For example, enterprises that are embracing corporate purpose for the first time, may face a lack of know-how and experience.

Providing a peer-to-peer network can support enterprises in overcoming these hurdles.

Under NVPC’s “Grow with Purpose” programme, for example, SMEs which have gone through the process of establishing responsible business practices guide and mentor other SMEs.

NVPC has currently initiated a pilot edition of the programme in the F&B sector. Enterprises like Ya Kun, Birds of Paradise and ABR Holdings are serving as mentors to rally others in adopting inclusive employment and sustainable inventory management practices.

I look forward to even more sectors working with NVPC to adopt the “Grow with Purpose” programme in the months and years ahead.

So, let me conclude. Businesses play an important role in our national effort to develop Singapore into a “City of Good”.

Over the years, the Company of Good recognition framework has helped to encourage businesses to consider how they can best give back to society and the community, to help build a more civic-minded, resilient Singapore.

Many of you here this evening may have been inspired on your journeys towards corporate purpose by businesses that were recognised in past cycles.

I trust that you will support other partners that are embarking on this going forward.

Our efforts to build up Companies of Good over the years have underscored the power of collaboration in driving positive impact.
 
By working together with shared purpose, you can tap on one another’s strengths and make an even bigger impact on our society.

So let me also encourage all of you here to reach out to one another, to share your experiences and even embark on new partnerships. 

I also invite you to make the most of the Future Economy Conference and Company of Good Conference next week, as part of SBF’s Apex Business Summit, to better connect with, and learn from, one another.

Congratulations once again to the 2024 cohort of Companies and Champions of Good.

I look forward to you keeping up, and enhancing, your contributions towards building a caring, inclusive, and compassionate society and shaping a better, more sustainable and resilient future.

Thank you.

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