Sinochem Group is one of the enterprises which took the lead to “go global”, with its overseas investment and factory buildings dated back to the 1980s. In recent years, the company has brought full play to its international operation advantages as a “global resource and market organizer”, in order to comprehensively speed up its pace of “going global” and improve its internationalization level.
Measured by the international common standard, Sinochem Group is among the Chinese enterprises with the highest internationalization indexes. At the same time, Sinochem Group, as one of the earliest Chinese enterprises listed on Fortune Global 500, has been on the list for 22 times, and in 2012, it ranked 113th.
As a member of the United Nations Global Compact, Sinochem Group has bore in mind its social responsibilities throughout its “going global” strategy by fully fulfilling corporate social responsibilities and vigorously promoting local economic and social development, employment and environmental protection, building a favorable image overseas as “Responsible Sinochem and Responsible Central Enterprise”.
Achieving Integration and Mutual Benefits with Local Communities
Overseas projects of Sinochem Group are mainly located in Africa, South America, Middle East and other regions with diversified cultural backgrounds, which, together with backwardness of some regions in social and economic development, adds uncertainties to project development in these local regions. As Sinochem Group has been following the development strategy of “going global” for a long time, it has gradually explored a cooperative mode with building project-based communities as its starting point and achieving integration and mutual benefits with local communities. This not only creates a sound environment for development of the company in local regions but also promotes economic and social development of the regions.
“Being a good neighbor and partner” has been a principle Sinochem Group has stuck to in building overseas communities. In order to carry out its community work effectively, Sinochem Group has set up community relations departments for its overseas project companies, which take charge of community work in all operation blocks and share petroleum exploration, development, transportation and other operation information with communities, in order to effectively communicate with all relevant parties. As many oilfield operation blocks of the company are sparsely distributed, a full-time community coordinator is arranged for each block and responsible for daily community work. Before commencement of significant operation projects, such as seismic acquisition, drilling and road construction, the company assigns community coordinators to hold project introduction meetings with participation of operation department personnel and community representatives, so as to enable residents in surrounding communities to have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the operations to be performed and jointly take part in project construction.
In operation of its overseas projects, the company also gives overall consideration to the public interest of regions where they operate by actively carrying out the local sourcing policy and employing local enterprises of different kinds to provide service, not only pushing forward local economic development, but also creating employment opportunities and promoting social equality and harmony in local communities.
Moreover, Sinochem Group also pools resources and efforts to boost common development of the company and communities by a variety of means, such as project cooperation, cooperation with government departments and public service organizations. It can be said that Sinochem Group has impressed each community covered by their business in Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa and South America with their active endeavor to aid local health care, education and infrastructure construction.
In Colombia, Sinochem Group enters into a contract with Healing the Children company on a yearly basis, which has helped more than 160 children by curing their diseases and provided medical service to over 500 language disordered children to help them restore health. In addition, the company has also joined hands with the Ministry of National Social Security of Colombia and other departments to purchase medical emergency vehicles, benefiting residents in 22 communities near the GIGANTE oilfield. In infrastructure construction, the company has cooperated with various social organizations in constructing, reconstructing and expanding buildings, cafeterias and dormitories of schools, education centers, medical stations, kindergartens and other infrastructures, which has benefited more than 5,000 people.
The photo shows a school in Colombia that Sinochem Group helped build.
In Yemen, the company has invested USD1.5 million to support local community development by introducing goats of a superior breed for local residents, digging wells to irrigate crops and setting up scholarship to fund students from poor families.
In Ecuador, the company has founded a public welfare foundation with USD300,000 to support regular education of handicapped children, large-scale planting of crops and micro loan program for indigenous women.
In Syria, the company has set up a social foundation with an investment of USD770,000 to aid the disabled.
In Cameroon and other regions, Sinochem Group has made an annual investment of about USD2.2 million in social welfare undertakings, such as assisting in building hospitals, schools and other facilities since 2008. To date, the company has helped construct 17 kindergartens, 26 primary schools, 2 middle schools and 1 vocational school, bringing about 10,000 local children to receive regular education, and set up clinics and public hospitals in all communities where it operates, improving local medical and education conditions.
Sinochem Group also attaches great importance to the cultivation of local employees, including internationalization, diversification and localization of its employees. Community policies of the company provide that unskilled workers needed by projects shall be employed from local areas in a 100% manner, and local skilled workers shall enjoy priority in local market recruitment. At the same time, the company offers sufficient training for employees at all levels in order to create better employment opportunities and broader development space for them. In the annual appraisal of excellent employees, the company has specially set up the “Foreign Model Worker” award. Those who win such award will be invited to China together with their family members to attend the award ceremony and the spring festival party of the company held at its headquarters, enabling them to experience the enthusiasm and warmth of the “Sinochem family”.
Moreover, the local employment policy of the company has played a significant role in raising the income level of local residents and improving the life quality of community residents. Take rubber business of the company as an example. Sinochem Group has created more than 18,000 jobs in Africa, and will create more employment opportunities with sustained development of its overseas business.
Achieving Harmonious Coexistence with Environment
As Sinochem Group pays close attention to harmonious coexistence with environment, it regards harmony between humans and the nature as a principle for operation activities of each of its projects, actively contributing to local natural environment protection.
When the company closed down the U.S. Agri-Chemicals Corp., one of its phosphate fertilizer production enterprises, for market reasons in 2005, it undertook all follow-up environmental protection responsibilities with huge spending in an attitude of being responsible for local residents and for the environment. Additionally, it also carried out environmental monitoring and maintenance that would last for 50 years, with the implementation standards of some items even beyond requirements of local environmental protection departments. These are spoken highly by various sectors and circles in Fort Meade, Florida where the project was operated, for these have helped Sinochem Group foster a sound overseas image for Chinese enterprises.
In Africa, Sinochem Group has built a green recycling economy system for its natural rubber planting business. The company has signed agreements with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Hevecam Campo Ma'an National Park in Cameroon to set up primitive forest protected areas and to maintain the balance of the forest ecological system in the plantation, and also construct a small zoo in Nigeria. In addition, the company has developed a biological cycle mechanism suitable for the plantation according to local conditions. Rejected materials generated in oil palm processing are used to produce feeds for livestock or for energy recovery through burning; timber wastes in the plantation are collected for cyclic use as organic fertilizer; and advanced sewage treatment schemes are adopted in the rubber processing plants. These measures have won recognition of local governments and residents and promoted protection of local resources and environment and development of recycling economy.
The photo shows an overseas oilfield block of Sinochem Group in the shade.
In overseas oil and gas exploration and development and operation of other projects, Sinochem Group has specially developed the health, security and environment (HSE) management system covering the whole life-cycle of projects, in order to minimize impact of projects on safety and environment. This management system, involving customers, suppliers, contractors and all stakeholders, not only covers design, purchasing, construction, transportation， production and other stages but also regulates risk control in new project acquisition and asset striping. With this management system, the UAQ offshore gas field project of Sinochem Group in UAE has operated safely for more than 1,500 days to date.
Sinochem Group integrates the idea of responsibility into its strategy of “going global”, actively promotes coordinated development of economy, environment and society, and strives to be a model international corporate citizen, for which it has won respect and trust of the international community and local parties and set up a sound image for Chinese enterprises.