"We are honoured to be selected as the provider of this strategic programme covering the entire spectrum of social responsibility topics for such a prominent company,” says incoming President and CEO Henrik O. Madsen, who signed the agreement in Beijing earlier this week.
“Cosco’s President and CEO Captain Wei Jiafu has set his company’s vision for establishing a social responsible culture across the entire company. DNV’s experience and expertise in this field is key to realizing this vision,” says Madsen.
The programme will cover the ten core principles of the United Nations Global Compact initiative (see link) which was established by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1999.
The Global Compact is supported by over a thousand companies and international labour and civil society organizations around the world.
“We are delighted to be presented with this opportunity to work with the management team of the world’s largest shipping company and member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development,” says Sven Mollekleiv, who leads DNV’s work in the area of corporate social responsibility.
“This work will equip both Cosco and DNV with a shared understanding of the Cosco risk picture,” said Bjorn K.Haugland DNV Maritime’s regional manager for Great China. “This should provide a great opening for DNV to identify opportunities to provide a wide range of services to Cosco.”
The agreement was signed after Henrik O. Madsen granted three certificates, recognizing Cosco’s modern enterprise management system. The three certificates are for:
- ISO 9000 quality management system
- ISO14000 environment management system
- OHSAS18000 occupational health and safety management system
It made the company the first state-owned enterprise in China to receive all three certificates at the same time. In appreciation of this achievement, Madsen also presented Cosco’s Captain Wei with a special Certification of Recognition.
Cosco is one of China’s flagship enterprises. At present, the group owns and operates a varied commercial fleet of some 600 vessels, with a total carrying capacity of around 34 million dwt.
Based on its core business of shipping, and investing heavily in technology, Cosco is changing from traditional ocean-shipping enterprise into a comprehensive logistics provider, incorporating ship agency, freight-forwarding, trade, financing, ship building and repairs, terminal operations and real estate. Last year, the company made a profit of 20 billion RMB – an all-time high.
In his address deputy CEO Henrik Madsen highlighted the contribution made by the DNV auditors Sangem Hsu and Sharon Guo. "I wish to thank them both for their excellent work and for making this truly one of the most unique partnerships which DNV has ever observed from more than 60,000 global certification clients."
