20 Jan 2023
Company of Good Singapore Summit 2023: Frasers Property Helps Advance Conversation on Corporate Purpose
“One of the challenges in embracing corporate purpose is to evoke change from within. Our people are important assets who can make this connection possible within the ecosystem.” – Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, Frasers Property Group Chief Executive Officer.
How are companies embracing and embedding purpose as a force of good in their businesses?
Mr Sirivadhanabhakdi spoke at a panel discussion in the Company of Good (COG) Singapore Summit on 12 January 2023. He shared insights on how companies can embed corporate purpose across their organisations, and translate purpose into action.
Frasers Property Singapore CEO Soon Su Lin was also in attendance at the inaugural COG Summit, an annual conference organised by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) which welcomed leaders from over 40 organisations.
Mr Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, Frasers Property Group Chief Executive Officer with Mr Ng Tian Chong, Managing Director, Greater Asia, HP (from left to right) at the panel discussion ‘Purpose Accelerates through the Ecosystem’ which was moderated by Mr Suhaimi Zainul-Abidin, Board Member, NVPC and CEO of Quantedge Capital (far right) at the Company of Good Summit 2023.
Soon Su Lin (eighth from left in the second row), Frasers Property Singapore Chief Executive Officer, together with key leaders from Singapore’s private and public sectors at the Company for Good Singapore Summit 2023.
Themed “A Better Future with Corporate Purpose”, the summit engages and empowers leaders and businesses to contribute to Singapore’s social impact through the adoption of corporate purpose and its application across five impact areas: People, Society, Environment, Economic and Governance.
NVPC Chairman Seah Chin Siong kicked off the COG Summit, which was graced by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law and Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Speaker of Parliament and Advisor, NVPC, who addressed the landscape shift from corporate giving to corporate purpose.
Guest-of-honour Mr Edwin Tong shared in his keynote address, “Businesses that recognise a shared responsibility to the wider society will find that it benefits both the community and the business; making businesses more sustainable and purposeful.”
At the summit, NVPC announced the refreshed Company of Good strategy and launched the new National Framework and Blueprint on Corporate Purpose. Frasers Property is a member of the Alliance for Action on Corporate Purpose that provided input to the blueprint and framework.
Purpose-led Action across the Business
Frasers Property’s Purpose – Inspiring experiences, creating places for good. – is embedded across our Group, shaping how we invest, develop and manage in the real estate sector.
Real Estate as a People Business
Real estate plays a pivotal societal role in shaping the experiences of communities. Our Purpose drives us to create lasting shared impact across:
- People: We assess our impact at a stakeholder level through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) for people and communities, as well as Innovation & Learning for employees.
- Society: We strive to build better connectivity and resilience by reducing inequalities and enabling better access.
- Planet: We take a whole-of-environment approach to reduce real estate’s reliance on carbon and use safer, greener building materials.
Mr Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, Frasers Property Group Chief Executive Officer speaking at the panel discussion ‘Purpose Accelerates through the Ecosystem’ at the Company for Good Singapore Summit 2023.
Continuing our Net-Zero Carbon Journey
Being purpose-led goes beyond meeting our sustainability goals; it is about how we operate our business, together with like-minded partners.
In One Bangkok, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SCG Chemicals in 2021 for the implementation of construction waste management practices to embed circular economy principles in Thailand's largest private property development project in the central business district.
We also intensified partnerships for collective action in sustainable development, which includes accelerating climate change mitigation efforts. Private-public sector partnerships allowed us to explore a distributed district cooling network in Tampines, Singapore, deploy electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across all Singapore malls to support EV adoption, and deliver world-leading sustainable designs in Central Place Sydney.
Artist Impression of One Bangkok, an integrated mixed-use development by Frasers Property scheduled for opening in Q4 2023.
Creating inclusive, healthy and vibrant spaces as a placemaker
Leveraging on our strong expertise in masterplanning, we strive to create inclusive, vibrant spaces for our occupants and the larger community, through fostering biodiversity and enhancing well-being and connectedness in the community.
We integrated conservation and biodiversity aspects in the design of Sky Eden@Bedok, Singapore with a nature-positive approach, and also designed and built a playground for a school for the Blind in Chonburi, Thailand, with inclusive playground equipment essential for gross motor skills development in the visually impaired children.
Northpoint City, the first and largest integrated mixed development in Northern Singapore, has the distinction of being the first mall in the island nation to have a community club (Nee Soon Community Club) co-located within it. A venue for interaction and activities, community clubs support community connectedness in multicultural Singapore. To further support inclusivity and vibrancy in the area, Northpoint City also has a rooftop community garden, a public library and a town plaza the size of 10 basketball courts.
In 2019, we first launched our solution-agnostic hackathon, Inclusive Spaces in Singapore which brought together Singapore-based tertiary students and persons with physical disabilities to co-design and co-create solutions improviing the inclusivity and accessibility in shopping malls. We continued to support our silver generation with the creativity of our youth to drive solutions in health, wellness and the built environment with the Inclusive Spaces Empactathon® in 2021.
Frasers Property’s Multi-sensory Classroom Makeover for Pattaya Redemptorist School for the Blind, Chonburi in Thailand.
Northpoint City, Frasers Property’s integrated development in the heart of Yishun, Singapore.
Championing greater good through People, Society and Planet
Last year, Frasers Property was recognised as a Champion of Good for being an exemplary leader and multiplier of corporate giving in Singapore. Our Purpose – Inspiring experiences, creating places for good. – has enabled us to strengthen and build a resilient and future-ready business focused on People, Society and Planet through sustainability, innovation and DEI.
Beyond working with like-minded stakeholders, partners and organisations to create a thriving ecosystem, Frasers Property recognises that people remain at the centre of everything we do and that our employees are the key to our continued growth and success.
Group sharing at Frasers Property’s inaugural Inclusive Spaces, a key community investment initiative aimed at building more inclusive communities via a design conversation around real estate spaces that allow for better physical, functional and social inclusion.
Hear from leaders across Frasers Property Group their reflections on our Purpose:
Leading with Purpose - Frasers Property Leaders
Inspiring experiences, creating places for good. At Frasers Property, our Purpose is the reason why we are in business and why we do things the way we do. Being purpose-led challenges us to innovate and reinvent ourselves as we continue building a more resilient, future-ready business, which is helping to deliver a more sustainable, inclusive and healthier world for all.