A significant milestone was reached as SaquibFayyazMagoon, Acting President of FPCCI, and Maria Jose Poddey, Country Director of GIZ Pakistan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the Responsible Business Helpdesk (RBH) at FPCCI.
The event was held in the esteemed presence of Jam Kamal Khan, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Commerce, and Svenja Schulze, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). SaquibFayyazMagoon expressed appreciation for the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (BMZ) support, noting its crucial role in aiding Pakistan’s textile sector to comply with new EU regulations.
The RBH platform, backed by BMZ, is designed to ensure that Pakistani exporters adhere to international standards of human and environmental responsibility. Jam Kamal Khan highlighted the Pakistani government’s commitment to promoting international best practices and human rights standards to foster growth in exports.
He emphasized the global recognition of human rights in business, citing frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, ILO Conventions, and OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises as essential for ensuring corporate respect for human rights. Svenja Schulze outlined the MoU’s objective to create an advisory center within the Business Coordinating Council, focusing on environmental due diligence and human rights.
The helpdesk will offer awareness, advisory, training, and dialogue services to both large and small companies to enhance human rights due diligence in Pakistan’s supply chains. Specific goals for the RBH at FPCCI include developing a joint service plan, creating a microsite on the FPCCI website, opening a physical office for RBH Pakistan, and formulating a sustainability plan to integrate RBH into FPCCI beyond the MoU’s duration. The signing ceremony was attended by notable figures including Tariq Khan Jadoon, VP FPCCI; Karim Aziz Malik, In-Charge Capital Office, FPCCI; Malik Sohail Hussain, Chairman Coordination, FPCCI; Majyd Aziz, former President of the Employer Federation of Pakistan; SahibzadiMahin Khan, President of the Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry Korangi; and Ms. AneelaIftikhar from the Women Chamber Multan, among other distinguished business personalities and officials.
