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The UAE government seeks to ensure AED500 million in financial aid and in-kind support by UAE-based companies in furtherance of their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility during 2017, according to Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy.

The minister made the statements while opening a session on declaring the CSR results for 2017 as part of the National Strategy for the Year of Giving which comprises over 1,000 initiatives and programmes that cover six main themes, CSR, volunteerism, the developmental role of humanitarian organisations, legislative systems and government policies, media, and serving the nation.

The meeting occasioned the launch of the "Annual Corporate Social Responsibility National Index" to track companies in the UAE based on the percentage of their contributions to CSR initiatives.The minister added that the declaration of the CSR results for 2017 is particularly important for being significant part of the UAE’s ‘Year of Giving’.

"The wise leadership is taking a number of relevant steps to develop an integrated framework aimed at spreading the initiative’s principles and encouraging active participation of the government and private sectors at the institutional and individual levels.," he noted.Companies will be able to register starting July, and will be required to declare their audited CSR accounts to the ministry and upon licence renewal at the Department of Economic Development.

Al Shehi said that another initiative is the establishment of a National CSR Index, which will rank entities in the country based on the percentage of their contributions and projects.