AREA: the 2005 Winner of the Ethical Prize of the Thai Chamber of Commerce The UN Global Compact AGENCY FOR REAL ESTATE AFFAIRS ศ นย ข อม ลว จ ยและประเม นค าอส งหาร มทร พย ไทย Property Consultants: Information, Valuation and Research Centre Agency for Real Estate Affairs Communication on Progress (COP) April 15, 2011 I Statement of the President Commitment on the UN Global Compact II Our Value of AREA III 2011 Communication on Progress (COP) IV Extended Report on Anti-Corruption V Our Related CSR Activities 2010-2011 10 Nonsee Road, Bangkok 10120, THAILAND Tel.66.2295.2294 Facsimile 66.2295.1154 Bangkok : Chiang Mai : Chumporn : Kalasin : Khon Kaen : Lam Phun : Maha Sarakam : Nakhon Sawan : Suphan Buri : Surat Thani Since 1982 http://www.area.co.th E-mail:area@area.co.th ISO9001:2008 The first property consultant firm certified for the overall services
I Statement of the President Commitment on the UN Global Compact AREA and the International Role on CSR We have been with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) since 2005 and are very proud to be a part of the UNGC. The UNGC is a really practical way of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which is the way to help sustain our business with pride, dignity and brand building in long run. We would like to exhibit that how we have followed the 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption strictly with tangible measures to show the achievement. In this report, we are proud to present to our stakeholders involved and would be very proud to be an example for other business entities. With our case study of AREA, we hove that more members of the UNGC will be in existence in the future. Please have a look at our 2011 COP to learn about our efforts on the UNGC framework. If you have any comments or suggestion, please feel free to inform us. We are happy to learn more in order to be a better member of the UNGC and to help boost the CSR further for the benefits of all. Sincerely yours, Sopon Pornchokchai, Ph.D., D.FIABCI, CRS, RICS President, Agency for Real Estate Affairs 2
II Our Value of Founded in 1982, the Agency for Real Estate Affairs (AREA) is Thailand s independent property consultant, specializing in international standard valuation, survey, research and information services while refraining from real estate brokerage and self-interest property development in order to avert a potential conflict of interest, thereby ensuring the integrity of our valuation and research work. The above is a statement that appeared at our website and in other materials of AREA. It clearly indicates that we do not do business in order to make money by any means, especially when there are potential conflicts of interest, ethics or professional standards. We are proud to inform you that we are the largest real estate information centre and most reliable source of information in Thailand, with the most comprehensive database from field survey continually conducted since 1994. We have released numerous warnings and have helped provide information for planning purposes for both the public and the private sectors. Our services also extend to Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam. Due to our high standard of performance and strict ethical practices, we, as local property consultants, can compete with international ones and remain leaders in the field of property consultants, thus demonstrating local initiatives and competence in fair competition in business. Since 2009, AREA has been the only property consultant firm certified with the ISO 9001-2008 for its overall services. This is our latest development. 3
III 2011 Communication on Progress (COP) Human Rights Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights AREA strictly follows the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its performance in business. The following are some examples. Our employees (Article 1) are endowed with reason and conscience and act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. What we do: We always promote this concept through our activities, such as on Songkran Day (Thai New Years and Family Day) where every year our younger staff members pay respect to their seniors regardless of their education or work status. Source: http://www.area.co.th/english/family/default_e.php According to Article 2, AREA treats our employees and clients without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. What we do: We announce that everyone has equal right to work with us if they are competent. In the past, we have some minority groups as well, such as the Mhong and Karen hill tribes. In 2011, only a Mhong stays. Our Karen colleague left us to go back to their home town with their family. According to Article 18, Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. What we do: At AREA, we recruit people regardless of their religion. Although most of us are Buddhists, some of our staff members are Muslims and Christians. Principle 2: Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses. This is confirmed. During 2009 to 2011 or even since AREA has been established in 1982, we have never been accused or charged to be against the law or any regulations regarding the abuse of human rights. 4
Labour Standards In AREA, with 150 staff members, most of our staff members are professionals and highly skilled labourers in research and valuation. Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining. What we do: Legally, we have an employees committee which has been established by law to protect the right of the employee. However, we don t have a trade union. This does not mean that we do not promote it but perhaps, we treat our employees fairly. However, with every division every month, there is a staff meeting to allow them to raise problems, difficulties and needs (if any). The heads of all divisions will then have a meeting with top management in the next week to discuss and disseminate written results of the decisions to all staff members. In 2011, we are currently promoting the establishment of trade union across valuation firms in Thailand to help protect their own right which will bring about better standards of living and better standards of professional services. Principle 4: The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour. What we do: We are never complicit in forced and compulsory labour at all. Principle 5: The effective abolition of child labour. What we do: We are never complicit in the uses of child labour forced and compulsory labour at all. Principle 6: The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. What we do: We have never had any discrimination in employment or occupation regarding the sexes, race, religion or political believes. There has never been any complaint on this issue. Our President, Dr.Sopon Pornchokchai himself is also a board member of the Employers Confederation of Thailand which has had strong relationship with many employees federations in Thailand. 5
Environment AREA is in the service or tertiary sector with no production of any pollution at all. We also help promote good environment. Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges. What we do: AREA, though the work of our librarian, helps disseminate knowledge and recognition of issues on environmental challenges in the office, at home or in the society at large to our staff members. Principle 8: Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility. What we do: We have been studying on how to be certified for the ISO 14000 on environment. Principle 9: Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. What we do: AREA has a computer division to help maintain the over 100 sets of computers in our office. Computer monitors or other outdated computer items which can be harmful for health and particularly the eyes are checked and replaced accordingly. In practice, we provide clean potable water for staff members. Refreshments, such as coffee, tea, and the like are provided as a free service to all staff members. This was worth approximately Baht 240,000 in 2010 and more or less the same during the period of 2011-2012. Our office is clean and healthy. We also provide a swimming pool and sport facilities free for our staff members. We believe that if they are in a good environment, they will be more productive, which will be beneficial for them and for the company. Source: http://www.area.co.th/new_office.htm 6
Anti-Corruption Anti-corruption is our key policy and in strict practices throughout the organization. We try to have rigid quality checks to avoid any possibility for corruption among our staff members as impartial professional service providers. Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery. What we do: Our business never gets involved in any corruption at all. We need to be very professionally reliable and trustworthy. That is why we never practice property brokerage, nor self-interest property developments, in order to avert a potential conflict of interest, thereby ensuring the integrity of our valuation and research work. The following is a table that shows the costs of our quality checks (QC), including field QC by sending QC staff to check the work in the field) and telephone QC to customers on the behavior of our staff members. In the past, there was post QC by allowing customers to fill in the evaluation form and send directly to management. However, during the past two years, this was cancelled. People can send direct complaint to the management. The other two QCs are ample or adequate to ensure our quality. In addition, the number of QCs staff has decreased because of the better performance over time. This helps reduce our costs in long run. Estimated Annual Costs of Quality Checks of AREA, 2007-2011 Items 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Field Quality Check Staff members 720,000 777,600 587,866 419,904 453,496 Lodging 60,000 60,000 60,000 36,000 37,800 Travel expenses 200,000 200,000 140,000 112,000 120,960 Administration 200,000 200,000 160,000 120,000 129,600 Telephone Check Staff members 324,000 349,920 377,914 279,936 302,331 Processing 150,000 150,000 150,000 120,000 129,600 Post Check Staff members 162,000 174,960 188,957 - - Processing 100,000 100,000 100,000 - - Total 1,916,000 2,012,480 1,764,736 1,087,840 1,173,787 Please note that the budgets for 2009-2010 fiscal years were lower because we minimize the cost of field quality check. After years of rigorous checks, fewer mistakes were found over time. This implies our good mechanism. Therefore, we reduce the number of checks from 20% of the cases done to 10%. This also implies that the mechanism of good practices has been established in our firm. The ISO 9001-2008 external auditors also suggested us that the number of QCs can be reduced over time due to the better quality performance. 7
IV Extended Report on Anti-Corruption As indicated, two major measures on QC and anti-corruption are the telephone check and field check. This part of the COP describes the reflection from our beneficiaries directly. This is the real key performance index. Quality Control by Telephone to Clients, 2010 Month No. of Jobs No. of Jobs Called Satisfied (Valuation) Number % Number % January 535 139 26.0% 138 99.3% February 528 170 32.2% 170 100.0% March 1011 219 21.7% 216 98.6% April 386 119 30.8% 118 99.2% May 389 110 28.3% 110 100.0% June 756 175 23.1% 175 100.0% July 549 148 27.0% 147 99.3% August 492 115 23.4% 114 99.1% September 505 131 25.9% 130 99.2% October 499 140 28.1% 140 100.0% November 540 116 21.5% 116 100.0% December 555 117 21.1% 117 100.0% Total 6745 1699 25.7% 1691 99.6% According to the table above, our beneficiaries particularly the clients and the bankers who commissioned us to conduct valuation jobs were extremely satisfied to our services. This implies the high quality of work. Quality Control by Field Check, 2010 Month No. of Valuation Jobs Number in Field Checked Total Checked % Minor % checked Mistakes* January 560 83 14.8% 18 21.7% February 518 73 14.1% 0 0.0% March 591 72 12.2% 15 20.8% April 986 95 9.6% 13 13.7% May 393 49 12.5% 5 10.2% June 418 66 15.8% 6 9.1% July 558 73 13.1% 15 20.5% August 553 72 13.0% 9 12.5% September 585 82 14.0% 9 11.0% October 526 73 13.9% 9 12.3% November 481 75 15.6% 9 12.0% December 454 85 18.7% 9 10.6% Total 6623 898 13.6% 117 13.0% According to the field checks, the expected proportion of the QC was 10%; however, the actual check was 13.6% in 2010. Minor mistakes appeared 13%. These minor mistakes implies to the minor measurement of area, evidences of comparable properties. There were few cases of valuation with wrong value appraised due to receiving bribery from clients. That the total numbers of jobs for the telephone and the field check are slightly different, is due to some double counts in the checking. Our quality check and anti-corruption are also considered an education process so that our staff members can learn more and help develop themselves. This will help boost a sustainable growth of our AREA. 8
V Our Related CSR Activities 2010-2011 The following are some of our activities related to our UN Global Compact and CSR listed by date. They all appear at our website: www.area.co.th (click activities): Charity: 9
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ENVIRONMENT 11
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Human Development (Capacity Building) 13
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Staff Cohesion 15
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Welfare, Special 17
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International CSR Activities UNGL Asia / Oceania, February 10-11, 2011, Bali There were a lot more activities in 2010-2011 for our staff members as well as to the public. Please see details at http://www.area.co.th/english/family/default_e.php 20