The 4th CSR Summit opened at the Dusit Hotel in Dubai.

The Summit is being held under the theme of 'Making CSR a Reality'.

Director of Global Values for UK-based The Body Shop Jan Buckingham set the tone for this year's summit, which is being held under the theme of 'Making CSR A Reality', telling delegates that the only way to ensure long term sustainable CSR strategies was to link them with the internal values of the company and its employees.

'CSR programmes can only be successful if they reflect the way you do business. It is your company values that will ultimately drive long term CSR strategies. The Body Shop was pioneered by Anita Roddick some 30 years ago and was at the time a pioneer of CSR, she did what she believed in,' she said.

'One of the most remarkable features of The Body Shop business model is the way that they have created an ambassadorial workforce, to the extent that their core values are even incorporated into their job descriptions. Employees are empowered, secure in the knowledge that they are working for a company that holds values close to their own,' said conference manager of the summit Kosta Petrov.

Indeed it is through their workforce that The Body Shop has made such an impact, influencing their stakeholders both internally and externally. Throughout their network of retail outlets and in-home salespeople, it is these ambassadors that have conveyed the company's core CSR values to the local community and society at large, Petrov added.

With the business case for a sustainable CSR model in the Middle East region gaining momentum, over 40 speakers from 17 different countries are featured on the summit programme.

Today (June 25) the agenda will address other issues mirroring the key principles of CSR such as Contributing To The Community and Emphasising Global Warming And Climate Change And Their Impact On Business.

Among the impressive line-up of international and regional experts speaking tomorrow (June 26) are, Mike Patrick, CSR Director, TNT Express UK; Ian Kiernan, Chairman And Founder - Clean Up Australia And Clean Up The World and Hamad Malik, Director Corporate Communications - LG Electronics Middle East.

In association with Shell Middle East, the event has also attracted premium sponsors with Microsoft-Gulf, Abu Dhabi-based Al Qudra Holding Company and internationally renowned Dow Chemical Company, confirming their support.Trade Arabia News Service