Getting to know our partners (2): MMG LXML

Our industrial partner is MMG Lan Xang Minerals Limited (LXML). MMG has been one of the major contributors to minning industry in Lao PDR and the region. LXML operates in Sepon.  Sepon mine is located in Vilabouly district, Savannakhet province.

                                              Credit: Image of Sepon from MMG LXML Website
                                                 
                                   

Sepon has played a vital role in development of Laos. It, in fact, was the first mine in an industry that now provides 80 per cent of foreign investment, 45 per cent of exports and 12 percent of Government revenues, to Lao PDR. 

                 
                                          Credit: Image of Sepon from MMG LXML Website

 There have been a number of interesting sustainability projects from MMG LXML such as the Trust Fund for Vilabouly district, Fightinh against Malnutrition, Vocational Triaining schemes and biodiversity management. 

                                         Credit: Image of Sepon from MMG LXML Website

In 2011 the gender diversity at Sepon and per cent of female employees 19 per cent, which is higher than Century, Golden Grove and Rosebery mining operations by MMG. This accounts for all employees, including contractors and Sepon casual staff.  Thus, gender and gender management can be another issue that our team will work with MMG LXML in this project.   

Getting to know our partners: The National University of Laos

I returned to Vientiane to attend a few meetings and start the first round of data collection for this project. Our meeting with the National University of Laos (NUOL) helps me to understand a few critical points about mining in Lao PDR.

Preliminary data from international agencies such as the Asian Development Bank, UNDP and Mekong River Commission have confirmed that robust growth has helped to nearly halve poverty in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Investments in mining and hydropower in recent years have driven much of the growth of the economy. 

However, the economic transformation continues to pose challenges for the country. Continued structural transformation and economic diversification is needed to expand opportunities, provide jobs for a young population, and for growth to become more inclusive. At the same time, high economic growth will need improved natural resource and environmental management.

NUOL believe that this project will enhance the quality of life of women in the mining industry. As a higher education institution, NUOLaims to promote new knowledge and research for development. 

Founded in 1996, with departments brought in from other existing colleges, it is the only national university in the country. NUOL accepts top students from Laos with few international students. National University of Laos is cooperating with various international universities. In this project, NUOL will be one of the key partners working with the local community in Villabouly. 

  

Capacity Building Workshop

One of the key elements of this project is "capacity building in research and development" among key partners. The term itself is broad and can be achieved in various ways. In achieving this commitment with the Australian Government (and our research partners), we organised a capacity building workshop in Bangkok on 25-26 November 2013.

Our special guests are Jen Tyrell (Counsellor in Education and Science) and Watinee Karnwong (Deputy Director, Australian Educaton International) from the Australian embassy. They joined our first session and discussed roles of education and research in development. This project is clearly one of many initiatives from the Australian Government to promote educational and developmental links among Australia and developing countries in South East Asia.

  

We invited our in-country partners from Lao PDR (National University of Laos and Burnet Institute) and Thailand (Thammasat University) to participate in this inaugural capacity building workshop at Swissotel Nailert Park.

Associate Professor Sengdeuane Wayakone, the director of international relations  and Prof. Somkiat, the Director of Research from the National University of Laos presented their ideas on research and process and protocal of research in Lao PDR to the team.  A number of interesting issues, such as dealing with local stakeholders, language and manners in the data collection process, dissemination of research in Laos, were discussed among our team members.

From Thailand, Assistant Professor Suphat Supachalasai and his team from Thammasat University discussed issues on dealing with mining industry in Thailand, data collection in the Thai business environment, and promotion and dissemination of research project at Thammasat and their academic and industrial partners.


Our team members from the Nossal Institute of Global Health, Dr. Timothy Moore and Brigitte Tenni, presented the roles of Australian AID and research under ADRA scheme.  We also discussed plan for the data collection and responsibilities among team members in the next 16 months.

We ended our workshop with discussion on plans for capacity building for students and young researchers in both countries, women associations, and mining workers in Lao PDR and Thailand.

In my opinion, the workshop promotes strong engagement and the flow of research ideas among team members from Australia, Lao PDR and Thailand. We really hope that young researchers who participated in the workshop will gain some ideas on research and gender equity.

Meeting with the Team: Laos

We travel to Vientiane to meet with our key partners: National University of Laos, MMG and Burnet Institute. As the principal investigator of this project, I hope to foster our relationship and to discuss key objectives of the project. 

The National University of Laos was established in 1997 and it is the largest University in Lao PDR. The amalgamations of academic from various disciplines make this University a real interdisciplinary academic institution. We met with Associate Professor Saengdeone Wayakone, the Director of the international affairs of the university and we discussed a number of ideas in terms of the management of this research project, expected outcomes and potential capacity building activities with postgraduate students and/or novice researchers from the National University of Laos.  

From this meeting we have achieved three important learning points:

1) Understanding research protocal in the host country is very important. New knowledge regarding research protocal in any institutions, country must be learnt, with your partners.

2) Engaging research team members from various academic backgrounds will add more views and value to your research in terms of methodology, vigor, and research approaches.

3) The values of your research project must be clearly communicated and commonly understood by all research partners. We learn from this process that we need to communicate the values/benefits of the project to the public. This will give a true meaning of our research project to the communities in Lao PDR, Thailand and Australia.

                                               The Monument of Prince Anuvong

 

 

 

 

Project Plan for November: Capacity building workshop and visiting our Partners

This month is an important month for the project since it is time for the capacity building workshop. We are traveling to visit our partners (the National University of Laos, MMG and the Burnet Institute) in Vientiane for 3-4 days and will discuss actions for 2014 with them.

Then, the capacity building workshop is scheduled on 25 and 26 November in Bangkok at Swissotel Nailert Park. The aims of the workshop include team meeting and discussion on the progress and plan of the project as well as capacity building training on data collection for our local RAs from Thailand and Lao PDR.

We will update the actions in November very frequently and will send around our newsletter to all project members. IF you are interested to receive an e-newsletter from this project, please leave your comments and email address in the blog.  

Comparing Corporate Social Responsibilities in Lao PDR and Thailand: International Business and Poverty Alleviation

As part of our AusAID Development Research Award Scheme (ADRAS) project, we have focused on the condition of economic poverty, and how corporate social responsibility from MNCs support such tragic conditions in Thailand and Lao PDR.  So far, we have conducted the literature review in international business and community studies. 

We have recently published a paper on CSR and poverty in Thailand and Lao PDR in the International Journal of Studies in Thai Business, Society & Culture, an open access Thai studies journal. We hope that the public will be able to read this paper and consider new ways of their poverty-related CSR activities. This is the abstract of the paper. 

Abstract:

Poverty has long been one of the major social problems in Thailand and Laos. By examining the geopolitics of poverty and international business, this paper argues that although corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing countries has been increasingly gaining attention, issues of particular concern to stakeholders in the West are those which dominate the poverty-related CSR  agenda. This is partly because Multinational corporations (MNCs)’ primary stakeholders are located in the West and CSR initiatives in Thailand and Laos are targeted at  these audiences rather than oriented towards their beneficiaries in the host countries. Local Thai and Laotian factors promoting poverty alleviation activities among MNCs seem to be missing in the literature. Some practical CSR points from the literature confirm that poverty-related CSR activities must be integrated with social issues such as health, education and governance in Thailand and Lao PDR. 

Full paper can be accessed here.

MINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN THAILAND

The  key actors who promote social responsibility among mining MNCs in Thailand include the Thai Ministry of Industry, MNCs and local and international NGOs. The literature from Thai governance and international business sources show 7 aspects of contribution by mining MNCs in Thailand.

The data from existing literature raise a number of interesting issues in terms of the contributions from mining MNCs in Thailand. As a hub for foreign direct investment in the region, Thailand attracts a high number of MNCs and consequently, exhibits higher penetration of CSR activities. 

They include (1) environment (pollution and global warming prevention, sustainable consumption and land use, preservation and restoration of ecosystems and the natural environment, respect for future generation), (2) human rights (civil and political rights, economics, cultural and social rights, fundamental labor rights, community rights), (3) labour standards (occupational health and safety, working conditions, human resources development, worker as a human being), (4) organisational governance (inclusiveness, ethical conduct, disclosure of information, respect for rule of law, accountability), (5) fair business practices (promotion of ethical and transparent activities, promotion of free composition, application of fair and ethical supply and after-supply practice, intellectual and property rights, anti-corruption), (6) community involvement/ social development (development impacts, community involvement, philanthropy), and (7) consumer issues (providing consumer with accurate and adequate information, Provision and development of socially-beneficial services and products, provision and development of safe and reliable products and services, protection of consumers’ privacy). One interesting point from the literature is the focus on ‘transparency’ in actions of mining MNCs. It is confirmed that CSR activities can be easily achieved when transparency is witnessed and practiced by all key stakeholders.

The key issue from mining industry includes the fact that it involves a number of environmental issues. Three mining MNCs, that we examined their annual reports, focus on ‘sustainability’ concept in the CSR actions.  Strategies that lead to sustainability concept include health and safety of the workers, fair and rewarding work relationships and a healthy living environment. Although it is complex to achieve the sustainability concept, the literature in international business (i.e. Esteves and Barcly, 2011; Pimpa, 2013) argue that approaches in relationship management among stakeholders in mining industry in Thailand is very crucial. Multi-stakeholder participation can enhance the quality of relationship and contributions by mining MNCs in Thailand in various forms. When participations among different stakeholders take place, key community’s demands will be discussed and mining MNCs can eventually response to the community needs, which may go beyond MNCs’ centralization approach in development.