At Baiduri Bank Group, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not simply a turn of phrase; it is a culture that is ingrained within the entire organisation, with the aim of giving back to the community in a truly meaningful way.
With our brand promise, ‘co-creating your future’, we aim to be an active and caring member of the community, displaying our leadership and ongoing commitment in our CSR initiatives that are underscored by three key pillars, namely Social, Economic and Environmental.
“Our CSR programme seeks to integrate our brand values and commitment to environmental and social sustainability. Through our focus on the three pillars, we aim to align ourselves to the objectives of Wawasan Brunei 2035 – to ensure the drive towards a developed, dynamic and sustainable Brunei Darussalam,” shared Ti Eng Hui, CEO of Baiduri Bank.
“We are constantly exploring areas of collaboration to develop our community, empower and contribute to their success. We focus on CSR activities that maximise long-term value towards truly making a positive difference for everyone,” he continued.
Ng Yick Wei, Head of Group Strategic Marketing and Communications at Baiduri Bank also shared her insights. “We also believe in collaborating with like-minded partners to drive positive change. Helping the underserved and tackling climate change, for example, are huge agendas that no organisation or sector can achieve alone. Through building strong, sustainable partnerships, we can accelerate progress and achieve greater scale and impact.“
Pillars of Sustainable Development
In line with the United Nations’ pillars of sustainable development, our CSR pillars also reflect local needs and priorities towards steering the nation towards a sustainable future. The Social pillar of our CSR framework is about engagement and partnerships with the community that benefits everyone.
“Under the Social pillar, Baiduri Bank Group looks at community welfare and empowers different segments such as the special needs, differently abled and the underprivileged. A key component to this is community volunteerism. In 2021, we partnered with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports to develop Mengalinga, a mobile app for people to search for volunteering opportunities. Currently, we are working together to get more organisations onboard so we can have more events where volunteers can contribute their time and effort,” shared Muiz Dato Paduka Haji Adnan, Assistant Manager of Corporate Communications at Baiduri Bank.
Let’s Give Back This Ramadhan is Baiduri Bank’s flagship initiative for the holy month of Ramadhan. In its seventh edition this year, the initiative aims to help underprivileged families and lessen their financial burden in preparation for Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
There is also a special focus on art and culture, in particular performing arts, the local arts scene, the creative industry, and community sports.
“In the past, we rendered our support mainly through sponsorships. However, moving forward, we hope to play a more proactive role and explore initiatives and programmes with longer-lasting impact,” said Muiz.
The Economic pillar aims at creating an entrepreneurial culture and competitive marketplace through skills training and knowledge sharing. The Group takes pride in its commitment to improve the overall financial literacy of the general public, promote a more conducive business environment, and nurture local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the start-up ecosystem.
“Under the Economic pillar, our focus is towards the development of skills and resources crucial to the economic and financial well-being of the general public, in particular the entrepreneurs and business community. We aim to strengthen the competitiveness and capacity of the MSMEs through skills-enhancing activities such as our MSME Empowerment Series and Angel Investing workshops held in partnership with Darussalam Enterprise (DARe),” Muiz shared.
“We also collaborate with the Young Entrepreneur Association of Brunei (YEAB) to host sector-specific power lunches designed to bring together seasoned mentors, industry players and young entrepreneurs in an informal setting. These events provide a platform for knowledge-sharing and networking, which we hope will foster more collaboration and innovation within our business community,” added Muiz.
Another notable initiative is Baiduri Enterprise Hub, a co-working space located at Baiduri Bank Serusop branch that offers a platform for business owners to get together, network and create new ideas and opportunities.
Finally, the Environmental pillar is dedicated to pro-environment community initiatives.
“It is important for future generations to be able to enjoy the natural resources that we currently have, and this will require us to take a holistic approach in preserving the environment and tackling environmental challenges,” said Ng Yick Wei.
Promoting zero-waste and low impact living as well as supporting green businesses and activities are some of the current areas of focus under the Environmental pillar. In supporting waste reduction and encouraging green practices, we collaborated with Big BWN Project to conduct ‘Zero to Hero’ workshops at 10 schools across all four districts to educate and empower students on low impact living, so they can be the catalyst for change towards a greener future. The Group aims to collaborate with strategic partners on educational campaigns to further promote environmental awareness and preservation.
For the community and country
The Bank has made extensive efforts to give back to the community and has more progressive initiatives in the pipeline for the benefit of Brunei’s people, communities, and the environment. We encourage our staff to take a hands-on approach towards CSR through initiatives such as Baiduri Cares, our internal volunteer programme.
“Various programmes and activities have been implemented with the community in mind. We are pleased to share that the Baiduri Masters charity golf tournament, another of our flagship event, will be making a comeback this year after a hiatus due to the pandemic,” said Muiz.
“Going forward, the Bank is open to working with strategic partners on potential CSR and community initiatives that are aligned to our pillars. Some of the best ideas stem from co-creation,” Muiz added.
“We are calling out to anybody who has an initiative or a programme that they would like to run and that they feel Baiduri Bank Group could be a great partner for because we don’t just want to be seen as their financial partner; we have staff members who are passionate and well-versed across a number of fields who are willing to volunteer their time to build a programme up.”
Our commitment to being a strong community partner – in co-creating a sustainable future – is rooted in our mission to enrich, empower and engage the communities we serve. In line with Wawasan 2035, we will continue our efforts to accelerate business transformation, enhance capacity building and develop a more sustainable society.
