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Published on September 14, 2007

At a seminar on Wednesday entitled "There Is No Such Thing As Business Ethics", sponsored by the Council for National Security and the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC), TCC chairman Pramon Sutivong said business operators should not focus only on making good products and providing excellent service. Instead, they must also be conscious of other factors, such as environmental impact and consumer health.

He said although such an awareness would increase production costs, they must adjust and respond to such demands from traders and customers. Otherwise, they may lose business, because they will not be able to compete with rivals, and their products will be opposed by the public. British Dispensary president Anurut Vongvanij said running a business must be supported by good morals, particularly honesty.

Meanwhile, the Thailand Management Association (TMA) expects the number of good-governance companies to increase to at least 200 in the next seven or eight years, director Dusit Nontanakorn told the seminar. The TMA's headquarters in Switzerland recently compared business competitiveness among 55 countries worldwide, and Thailand was ranked 33rd.

He said the survey also gave scores for companies' corporate social responsibility, executives' credibility and human-resource management. The TMA tries to encourage giant firms to be models of good governance and social responsibility for small-and medium-sized companies.

Recently, it granted Thailand Corporate Excellence Awards to the Siam Cement Group, PTT and Kasikornbank.

All three business experts at the seminar said the believed the next government would support the private sector in promoting good governance, along with community and environmental awareness.

"The new government should be able to persuade operators to sustain their businesses with good governance," said Dusit. "However, the government must first stop its own corruption."

Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

 The Nation