PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA - Corporate responsibility (CR) should not be forsaken even in turbulent economic times, say several captains of industry.

Corporate responsibility was vital and should be maintained even at the expense of company profit, they said.

'Backing out of running CR projects may financially ease a corporation's burden momentarily, but its image will suffer in the long run,' said HSBC chief executive officer Irene Dorner.

'It would be like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.'

She was responding to a question during the forum Getting Corporate Responsibility on the CEO Agenda. The question was whether corporate heads would willingly maintain corporate responsibility programmes in the current market turmoil.

The participants at the two-hour forum yesterday were visibly impressed when all four panellists - Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, IJM Corporation managing director Datuk Krishnan Tan, Astro chief executive officer Rohana Rozhan and Dorner - responded positively.

Other tough questions were also posed to the panellists during the event, moderated by Institute of Corporate Responsibility Malaysia (ICR) chairman Datuk Johan Raslan.

However, the panellists agreed that it would be a tough balancing act.

'On the one hand, I have a CR programme to aid a rugby team and on the other I am contemplating whether my employees earning RM2,000 are able to sustain their lifestyle considering the escalating prices of things,' said Krishnan.

'Given such circumstances it may look absurd, but the notion of CR is embedded in the DNA of my corporation, and as such we must continue with the programme.'

Azman offered the proverb 'cut the fat, not the muscle' as an answer to a compromise between company profits and maintaining corporate responsibility programmes.

He said certain projects, especially if they involved scholarships, should not be stopped.

Rohana pointed out that a corporation would seem insincere if corporate responsibility incentives only applied in good times.

The forum was organised by StarBiz and ICR in conjunction with the StarBiz-ICR Malaysia Corporate Responsibility Awards.

The awards dinner, to take place on Aug 22, will honour companies that have demonstrated outstanding corporate responsibility practices.

It is supported by the Securities Commission Malaysia and Bursa Malaysia in partnership with ACCA, SIDC and PricewaterhouseCoopers.