The Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA) 2023 is pleased to honor 78 outstanding business leaders and enterprises for championing sustainable and responsible business practices. Presented by leading regional NGO Enterprise Asia, the AREA is the most reputable award recognition program recognizing organizational efforts in creating a culture of compassion, integrity, and in being socially responsible corporate citizens. The AREA serves as a badge of excellence to spur further innovation and best-practice for sharing about the organization and the world at large.
Longchen Paper & Packaging Co., Ltd. (LPP) was among the recipients who were conferred with the Social Empowerment Award. LPP is a service-oriented manufacturer devoted to the vertical integration of low-carbon papermaking and eco-packaging and a role model in a fulfilling circular economy over the long term. Paper products needed in daily life are manufactured by applying environmentally friendly advanced technologies with resources utilized at high efficiency.
The company’s project entitled “Longchen P&P Reverses Rural Poverty With Education” begins with one school. LPP is committed to helping schools in remote areas by assisting students to take their first step forward in the right direction, then return to their communities when they have grown up, bringing back with them the desire for innovation to help the community thrive.
The school chosen as the starting point of this project is Minhe Junior High School (MJHS). Instead of conventional physical or monetary donations, MJHS is assisting its students by “teaching them to fish rather than giving them fish”.
As of 2022, the self-improvement project has shifted its efforts from providing MJHS students with resources to motivating them to be able to learn independently and proactively. The objective of this project was aimed to assist MJHS students in determining the direction of their high school education early and reducing the chance of poor adaption. This poor adaptation is considered a likely cause for poor academic performance and possibly even students dropping out of school.
In 2022, this self-improvement project implemented the social impact assessment (SROI). This assessment method uses 5 measures aimed at calculating the benefits brought about annually, assessing whether the promotion measures used can produce greater social influence, and fine-tuning the project accordingly. The SROI of LPP’s project is now estimated at 1.4, i.t. every one NTD input would result in 1.4 NTD of social influence.
LPP’s social empowerment project is built upon the mindset that the lushness of a forest begins with a single seed. The company has set up short-, mid-, and long-term objectives in order to achieve its Vision. The first phase of this project will initially begin by providing teaching-related materials to enable students in remote areas to access the same educational resources as those in metro schools. Thus, allowing these students from more rural areas to start the race from the same starting line as other students across the country.
Later, LPP will start providing multi-channel teaching resources, this gives students more extracurricular learning opportunities and expands their perspectives. In the long-term, under this program, MJHS’s graduated students will be tracked and guided in their pursuit of further education while motivating the younger students to strive for higher education and learn independently.
About Enterprise Asia
Enterprise Asia is a non-governmental organization in pursuit of creating an Asia that is rich in entrepreneurship as an engine toward sustainable and progressive economic and social development within a world of economic equality. Its two pillars of existence are investment in people and responsible entrepreneurship. Enterprise Asia works with governments, NGOs and other organizations to promote competitiveness and entrepreneurial development, in uplifting the economic status of people across Asia and in ensuring a legacy of hope, innovation and courage for the future generation. Please visit https://www.enterpriseasia.org/ for more information.
About Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA)
The Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards program recognizes and honors Asian businesses for championing sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship in the categories of Green Leadership, Investment in People, Health Promotion, Social Empowerment, Corporate Governance, Circular Economy Leadership, Corporate Sustainability Reporting, and Responsible Business Leadership. For more information, visit: https://enterpriseasia.org/area/.