Beyond profits: Let corporate wealth serve humanity

The contribution of the private sector to Bangladesh’s economy is immense. A rapidly expanding private sector is playing a pivotal role in driving economic growth and generating employment across the country. Several industrial conglomerates have emerged as formidable competitors in the global market, achieving remarkable success and earning international recognition.

Globally, the private sector is a key engine of economic development. But successful businesses have responsibilities that extend beyond generating profits and creating jobs. Many leading corporations and wealthy entrepreneurs have demonstrated that commercial success can go hand in hand with human welfare through corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, for example, serves as co-chair and trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world’s wealthiest philanthropic organisations. Since 2000, the foundation has spent more than $36 billion on global health, disaster relief, poverty alleviation and other development initiatives. It provides grants to non-profit, for-profit and government organisations working on programmes including immunisation, malaria eradication and safe sanitation.

Microsoft itself provides free IT and vocational training to millions of disadvantaged people in developing countries. The company also donates billions of dollars’ worth of software and cloud services to non-governmental organisations and operates a $1 billion Climate Innovation Fund aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

Global brands have also used their reach to promote public health. Lifebuoy and Dove, for instance, have raised awareness of handwashing and personal hygiene among billions of people. Unilever works with small farmers and businesses in its supply chains, seeking to ensure fair prices and improve livelihoods. 

Technology companies are increasingly making advanced artificial intelligence tools available for social good, including natural-disaster early warnings, climate monitoring and healthcare research. Through Google.org, millions of dollars are donated each year to support education, humanitarian responses and job creation worldwide.

There are also remarkable examples of individual philanthropy. Chuck Feeney, the real-estate mogul known as “the James Bond of Philanthropy”, pledged his entire fortune to The Atlantic Philanthropies in 1984. In 2003, he resolved to spend his wealth during his lifetime, embracing the philosophy of “giving while living”. The foundation ultimately spent more than $8 billion across eight countries to promote equity and justice.

Warren Buffett is another extraordinary example. Since 2000, he has donated more than $46 billion, equivalent to roughly 71 percent of his net worth. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation provides around $150 million annually to improve access to reproductive healthcare for disadvantaged women, among other initiatives. Buffett also co-founded The Giving Pledge, encouraging wealthy people to commit more than half of their wealth to philanthropy.

Michael Bloomberg has donated $6 billion through Bloomberg Philanthropies and pledged half his fortune to The Giving Pledge. His philanthropic work focuses on the environment, public health, the arts, government innovation and education.

Such examples abound. In India, global conglomerate Tata has embedded social responsibility deeply within its corporate culture. A significant portion of Tata Sons’ revenue flows into charitable trusts that fund cancer hospitals, research institutes and educational scholarships, alongside rural healthcare, clean water and youth entrepreneurship.

Apparel company Patagonia has transferred its ownership to a trust, with business profits directed towards tackling the climate crisis and protecting nature. Salesforce pioneered its 1-1-1 model, committing 1 percent of its equity, 1 percent of its products and 1 percent of employees’ time to charitable causes. Mastercard has sought to promote financial inclusion, with the ambition of bringing 1 billion unbanked people and 10 million micro-entrepreneurs into the global digital economy.

Indian philanthropists have likewise shown what corporate wealth can achieve. Wipro founder Azim Premji, one of India’s leading philanthropists and the first Indian to sign The Giving Pledge, has donated around 92 percent of his wealth, estimated at $21 billion, to human welfare.

Reliance Industries is among India’s largest corporate donors under the country’s mandatory CSR framework. The Reliance Foundation works in rural transformation, healthcare, disaster management, sports and education. HCL founder Shiv Nadar has established the VidyaGyan Academy and Shiv Nadar University to promote social transformation through education, while the Aditya Birla Group supports rural development through health camps, vocational centres and school meal programmes.

The global contribution of the private sector to education, healthcare, scientific research, sports, culture and environmental protection is therefore monumental.

Bangladesh, however, still has considerable ground to cover. Although the country’s private sector has expanded dramatically, only a handful of corporate entities are actively engaged in sustained humanitarian work.

There is now, however, a promising development. The government has launched an initiative to bring the private sector under a structured system of institutional social responsibility. Bangladesh’s industrial and commercial development has long needed a coherent CSR framework. In the absence of clear guidelines, corporate donations have often been sporadic and, at times, faced allegations of being diverted towards political donations, advertising or personal favours.

The Ministry of Commerce has therefore drafted the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Draft Policy 2026 to replace irregular and aimless charitable giving with a more accountable system. The provision explicitly prohibiting corporate donations to political parties is particularly timely. Preventing corporate funds from being channelled towards political agendas could help curb irregularities, discrimination and corruption.

More importantly, the proposed policy moves CSR beyond merely auditing corporate expenditure. It identifies labour rights, human dignity and environmental protection as core pillars of corporate social responsibility.

The draft proposes mandatory CSR spending equivalent to at least 1 percent of pre-tax profits for publicly listed companies, banks, insurance companies and multinationals, while limiting administrative expenditure to 10 percent. Independent impact assessments would ensure that CSR is judged by tangible social outcomes rather than simply by the amount of money spent.

The proposed National CSR Coordination Committee, separate bank accounts for CSR funds and disclosure of unused money are intended to improve transparency and align corporate initiatives with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Commerce Ministry officials say the government wants to bring corporate social responsibility under a unified framework. At present, mandatory CSR contributions apply only to certain sectors. Mobile operators, for example, contribute 1 percent of their total revenue to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s (BTRC) social obligation fund.

Bangladesh Bank has encouraged CSR spending by financial institutions since 2009 and issued a dedicated policy in 2022, although it did not prescribe a fixed percentage. The National Board of Revenue introduced tax exemptions for CSR expenditure in 2010.

Read More

Debt trap tightens

The proposed Ministry of Commerce policy would cover listed companies, banks, non-bank financial institutions, insurance companies, state-owned commercial enterprises, foreign and multinational companies operating in Bangladesh, and entities crossing specified financial thresholds. The applicability thresholds will be aligned with the National Industrial Policy 2022, while the final guidelines are expected to provide concessions for small, cottage and newly established enterprises.

A properly implemented CSR framework could make a meaningful difference to Bangladesh’s marginalised communities. Mandatory and accountable corporate contributions to education, healthcare, research, sports and environmental protection could raise living standards and strengthen social resilience.

The private sector has already demonstrated its ability to transform Bangladesh’s economy. It should now demonstrate equal ambition in transforming the lives of its people.

Profit is essential for business to survive and grow. But corporate success should not be measured by profits alone. The real test is whether a prosperous private sector is willing to give something back to the society that makes its prosperity possible.

The proposed CSR framework can provide that opportunity. What is needed now is not merely a policy on paper, but its swift, transparent and effective implementation.