StanChart unfailing in giving back to society

As the coronavirus pandemic took hold in Bangladesh in March last year, Standard Chartered Bangladesh (SCB), took steps to keep its operations up and running, protect employees, and support clients.

It, however, did not forget the community at large. Rather, it beefed up its corporate social activities and quickly teamed up with non-profits to come to the aid of the people who needed the support most.

"We are not only doing business. We are also providing humanitarian aids to underprivileged people," said Bitopi Das Chowdhury, head of corporate affairs, brand and marketing at SCB. 

The British multinational bank spent Tk 20 crore last year to help the people. It distributed emergency food among households to ease their sufferings caused by job and income losses.

It extended food and hygiene support to more than 120,000 individuals, catering 600,000 meals and personal hygiene material through Brac, one of the largest non-governmental organisations in the world, and the Kumudini Welfare Trust during the first wave of the pandemic.

It purchased fresh foods directly from 2,000 smallholder farmers, also victims of the pandemic, and distributed them among 200,000 distressed individuals in partnership with Obhizatrik Foundation.

Life-saving medical services were made available for 560 patients critically affected by the deadly virus through Sajida Foundation and Bidyanondo Foundation.

"We have a responsibility to improve the livelihood of the marginalised and underprivileged people," Chowdhury said in an interview with The Daily Star.

The bank has been operating in Bangladesh for 116 years. It is the largest foreign bank in the country and one of the top corporate taxpayers.

It donated $1.3 million to Unicef for the protection measures and remote education of vulnerable children and assisted healthcare workers through a contribution of $300,000 to the programmes run by Bangladesh Red Crescent Society.

In association with the UCEP Bangladesh, the bank held training programmes and workshops for the people who lost jobs because of the business slowdown caused by the pandemic so that they can return to work by improving their skills.

Three hundred people attended the training for three months last year. Of them, 275 are already employed.

"We will provide entrepreneurship training to the returnee migrant workers so that they can learn how to start a business and operate it efficiently," said Chowdhury.

At least 500-600 returnee migrants will be included in the training.

"We are not only giving immediate supports to the affected people but also taking a wide range of measures on the long-term basis to help them sustainably live their life," said Chowdhury, who secured her MBA from the Institute of Business Administration under the University of Dhaka.

She also holds an MBA in strategy and international business from the School of Management at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand. She has been working with SCB since 2009.

On Tuesday, the bank announced a Tk 13.5 crore plan for 2021 to support healthcare and immediate assistance, restore livelihoods and catalyse long-term growth. The plan builds on the bank's extensive initiatives from 2020 but is more diverse in scope and will be more impactful.

SCB is set to work with the youths as a part of its 'Futuremakers' programme to help them learn, earn and grow.

The programme, which was initiated in 2019, provided training to 1,500 people in the year.

The initiative is concentrated in three core areas – education, entrepreneurship development and employable skills. 

The bank is aligning its CSR initiatives with the Futuremakers programme.

When it rolled out the programme, the plan was to allocate Tk 10 crore per year. But it spent Tk 20 crore last year to offset the adverse impacts of the pandemic.

SCB will expand its focus in the coming days and has spent almost the same amount in 2021 as it did last year.

The bank has been supporting clients during the pandemic.

Even before the central bank announced the payment holiday last year, it put in place support measures for the retail customers and businesses, including loan repayment holidays, fee waivers or cancellations, and loan extension.

The bank offered a three-month payment holiday and incremental short-term liquidity facility to small and medium enterprises.

It waived penal interest and late payment charges for clients and rebated late payment fees for credit cardholders.

The lender will help local businesses cut carbon emission so that they can export products efficiently. It will prioritise the enterprises that will take initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint while disbursing loans.

Local suppliers are at risk of losing $18.7 billion worth of exports a year if they cannot reduce carbon emissions in line with the plans of their major clients, according to a recent study of Standard Chartered.

Chowdhury says the bank has a presence in the developed markets, which will help it share experiences with local enterprises.

"It will play a pivotal role in reducing the carbon footprint."

SCB has already supported the shipbreaking industry to run operations sustainably in recent years.

Ship-beakers employ an estimated 200,000 workers, with around a million people related to the industry, directly or indirectly.

While it is a growth driver in emerging markets, the lender recognises that there are environmental and social challenges associated with the industry, including hazardous environments for workers.

"As a large global bank, we want to do what we can to help improve the industry," said Chowdhury, who has more than 20 years of experience in various industries.