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 sharing for your organization and the world at large.
Pacific SOGO Department Stores Co., LTD (Far Eastern SOGO) was among the recipients who were conferred with the Social Empowerment, Green Leadership, and Investment in People Awards. As Taiwan’s most trusted department store brand, Far Eastern SOGO’s rich retail experience has allowed it to grow with the market into a diversified and entertaining business, winning the hearts of the customers, the employees, the partnering brands, as well as the stockholders.
For its Social Empowerment Award, the Vision of Far Eastern SOGO is to be the socially responsible retail benchmark that keeps pace with the times to deliver an all-around lifestyle experience for the public. Since 2011, Far Eastern SOGO has committed to enhancing the welfare of vulnerable, disabled children and those with rare diseases.
Its project achievements include the fact that 290 students won the “SO GOOD Children Role Model Selection and Recognition” award while 44 attendants won the President’s Education Award. Besides that, 15,000 people, including children, families, teachers, and social workers have benefited from the related activities, and the SROI analysis shows that the company has created NTD10.18 in social value for every NTD1 invested, equivalent to NTD230 million in monetary value for the ten years of dedication that has been poured into this project.
For its Green Leadership Award, Far Eastern SOGO continues to optimize its energy-saving equipment and combine specialized marketing creativity and the channel platform characteristics of the department store industry to “build the No.1 green department store in Asia”. In 2022, the company became Asia’s first retail service provider to join the EP100 initiative. Since Far Eastern SOGO began engaging in CSR in 2015, the company has received numerous honors. In the post-pandemic era, Far Eastern SOGO continues its efforts to fight climate change.
This project’s achievements include the company having obtained the carbon footprint label and carbon reduction label before any other department store, becoming the first organization in the service industry to take part in the green procurement initiative started by the government, becoming a member of the EP100 initiative in 2022 and pledging to boost energy productivity by 50.52% by 2028, and choosing to voluntarily make its nine-year ESG report public and disclosing in accordance with the TCFD framework.
For its Investment in People, Far Eastern SOGO provides a good work environment with world-class level occupational health and safety, established a pandemic prevention guide that ensures the most rapid response, implemented zero-contact services, paid vaccination bonuses, and took care of the health of employees.
In addition, Far Eastern SOGO provides comprehensive education and training, implements EAPs, enhances the professional capability and mentality of employees, and optimizes the journey of employees to solve the talent retention problem in the service industry.
The company’s policies include: the company has increased all employee salaries by 4%, and no benefits have been cut; the company complies with the highest workplace and employee management standards, including ISO 45001 and TTQS; in response to the pandemic, the company has implemented firm-wide regulations for employees and provided grants to those who contracted Covid-19, the company encourages all staff members to contribute their thoughts and participate in the ESG-driven evolution of its department store.
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/.