Qalaa Holdings, an African leader in energy and infrastructure, has announced that its chairman and founder, Ahmed Heikal has been recognized for the leadership role in the field of sustainability and responsible investing.

The Social Responsibility award was presented to Heikal at the culmination of a forum organized under the auspices of the Federation of Egyptian Banks.

The one-day forum brought together business leaders, social entrepreneurs, government ministers including Ghada Waly, Minister of Social Solidarity, and leading figures from the NGO community to discuss ideas, find practical solutions and share best practices on how to build more inclusive societies for a more sustainable future.

“Being recognized for the work that we have achieved in the area of social responsibility is something that gives me great pride. We have always been conscious that our ability to grow and prosper as a business is directly linked to having a stable and prosperous society,” said Heikal.

“Since we first established our business over a decade ago we have been actively advocating for private sector involvement in addressing the many challenges that we face today in crucial areas from education and human capital development, to developing infrastructure and innovative technologies that will rationalize consumption and promote efficiency.”

 “I think that the only way to guarantee healthy growth and stability is for all stakeholders including the public and private sectors as well as civil society to work together and collaborate so that we may build a relationship of trust, cooperation and optimism amongst all parties involved,” he added.

“I’m very proud of the role that the banking and financial sector and the private sector in general has played in the area of social responsibility,” said Ghada Hammouda, chief sustainability and marketing officer at Qalaa Holdings.

“The best results are achieved through partnerships which is what we at Qalaa have been working towards for many years. This award is a testament to the efforts that we have put forth thus far. We look forward to growing our social responsibility programs particularly in the area of education and capacity building for Egyptian youth. We hope that our work can also help create greater awareness on the importance of sustainable business practices and community engagement,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service