Canon Middle East celebrates 10th anniversary with special focus on CSR

Canon Middle East, leader in imaging solutions, has announced that corporate social responsibility (CSR) will be one of the key focus areas as it continues with its 10-month celebration of the 10^th anniversary of its headquarters in the region. Canon Middle East further revealed that one of the themes of the anniversary celebrations is the “Power of Environment”, which underlines the company’s strong commitment to promote environmental stewardship and sustainability as an integral part of its business strategy.

One of the CSR-driven and environmentally-themed activities being supported by Canon Middle East is the Wild Arabia Photographic Exhibition and Competition, a major awareness campaign launched by Univers K, in partnership with National Geographic Al Arabiya and sponsored by Dolphin Energy. Canon is providing prizes to the bi-monthly winners of the competition, while Canon LFP machines are being used to print the photos that will be showcased in the exhibition in February 2012 on the Abu Dhabi cornice followed by the Emaar Boulevard downtown Dubai. To learn more visit www.wildarabia.com

The success of Canon Middle East’s CSR initiatives over the past years has been reaffirmed when the company was named as one of the major awardees during the CSR Arabia Awards 2011 in Dubai. Canon Middle East was recognised for its holistic view on sustainability and its thorough understanding of CSR and sustainability policies, processes and goals, which is in line with Canon’s corporate philosophy of kyosei, or living and working together for the common good.

Anurag Agrawal, Managing Director, Canon Middle East, said: “Canon measures success based on our ability to help uplift the lives of our customers, protect the environment and support community development. In this regard, corporate social responsibility plays a very important role in our business strategy as Canon not only seeks to empower creativity and innovation in the workplace and at home, but also aims to contribute in the sustainable development of the society through eco- friendly products and socially responsible business practices. Moreover, we actively support and organise initiatives that benefit the greater society, in line with our strategy to be closer to our customers and guided by our corporate philosophy of kyosei, which inspires us to seek better ways to live and work together with the rest of the community for the good of all people and the environment.”

Over the past decade, Canon Middle East has introduced several other CSR-driven initiatives that have benefited various sectors of the society. In partnership with award-wining UAE filmmaker and Canon Middle East Brand Ambassador Nayla Al Khaja, Canon has supported the “Bloom Cine Startups” initiative, which helps budding local filmmakers, especially the youth, to improve their craft.

Other CSR initiatives by Canon Middle East include its continuing support to various humanitarian causes through the Rashid Award for Humanitarian Studies, active participation by Canon employees in Earth Day activities, and its support to the Rotaract Club Jumeirah’s Charitable Fashion Show and Auction to generate funds for children with special needs. Canon has also supported the ICDL GCC Foundation’s ICDL Computer Summer Camp, which has empowered thousands of students in the region with fundamental IT skills.

Canon Middle East has likewise teamed up with Dubai Internet City and EWS-WWF for an environment photo exhibition to mark Earth Day, while it has hosted a bulb exchange program to encourage DIC residents to swap non-energy efficient bulbs with energy saving alternatives. The World Press Photo Exhibition was also supported by Canon Middle East held in Lebanon.

In celebration of its 10^th anniversary, Canon has prepared a selection of monthly activities based on various themes that reinforce Canon’s commitment to the community and the environment. The activities and themes include the “Power of Image” photo contest for media practitioners (September-October), the “Power of Partnership” conference for channel partners (November/December), the “Power of Environment” photo exhibition (December/January), the “Power of Image” regional photo competition (January), the “Power of Family” weekend activities for the family (February March), the “Power of Friendship” (April/May), and the “Power of Education” events for schools and universities (June/July).