Banyan Tree Co-Founder Appointed as First Asia Vice-Chair for Caux Round Table

Ms. Claire Chiang, Co-founder and Senior Vice President of Banyan Tree Holdings and a Global Governing Board member of the Caux Round Table (CRT), has been elected as the CRT Vice-Chair for Asia, in recognition of her revolutionary efforts in championing sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

The first female Vice Chair on the Global Governing Board, Ms. Chiang will be responsible for driving awareness, consideration and implementation of long term sustainability solutions across Asia in this new two-year appointment.

The Caux Round Table is a global network of senior business and thought leaders who work to empower private enterprise and enhance public governance to improve the global community. It was founded in1986 by Frederick Phillips, former President of Philips Electronics and Olivier Giscard d'Estaing, former Vice-Chairman of INSEAD, as a means to reduce escalating global trade tensions. At the urging of Ryuzaburo Kaku, then Chairman of Canon Inc., the CRT began focusing attention on the importance of global corporate responsibility in reducing social and economic threats to world peace and stability. Since February 2008, Ms. Chiang has worked with the Caux Round Table; after her election to the CRT’s Global Governing Board in November 2008, she has taken an even more active role in the network’s mission to influence leaders to marry business practices with ethics, or what is known as ‘moral capitalism’.

In her new role, Ms. Chiang will also chair the subcommittee for the upcoming 25th Annual CRT Global Dialogue in Beijing, China on 22- 24 October 2010. The discussion will address ways to improve the outcomes of the market economy and globalization through ethical conduct and corporate social responsibility.

“I am excited to be a party in leading this global dialogue on moral capitalism,” said Ms. Chiang, “The principles of the Caux Round Table mirror my personal belief that businesses have a responsibility to benefit the greater society through the course of their operations. I look forward to continuing my engagement with the other members of the Caux Round Table to influence positive change in the business environment.”

In addition to her Vice-Chair appointment, Ms. Chiang also contributed a forward for the Chinese translation of Moral Capitalism: Reconciling Private Interest with the Public Good, a book authored by CRT Global Executive Director Mr. Stephen Young and which will be published in October 2010.

Ms. Chiang is one of the leading advocates of CSR in Singapore, and together with husband Ho Kwon Ping founded Banyan Tree with the core value of driving sustainable development. Since its inception, Banyan Tree has embedded corporate social responsibility as a core value of its business strategy. In addition, as Chairperson of Banyan Tree Global Foundation, Ms. Chiang also has oversight for the CSR arm of the group which provides strategic planning, governance of funds and consultancy services to Banyan Tree.

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