The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently held the Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) meeting for the first time globally and at the ministerial level under its umbrella. Our deputy minister of industry and technology, Çetin Ali Dönmez, was supposed to represent our country at the meeting. However, since Türkiye has put up a historical struggle against the heaviest earthquakes of the last century with the unity and solidarity of the state-nation, I attended the meetings representing our country. The RBC summit prioritizes the establishment of a firm understanding where companies of all sizes in the business network, starting with multinational companies, should act with complete sensitivity in terms of business ethics against the environment, bribery and corruption, full responsibility toward consumers, compliance with corporate governance principles and full respect for human rights. This comes when sensitivity toward supersonic digitization, environment and climate, green and clean energy transformation and social peace are at the highest level.
In essence, the RBC requires companies that produce goods and services for their country and export their products to work with fundamental corporate social responsibility rules. These rules include the quality of the goods or services produced, production in a way that protects the environment and the climate, proper and healthy dialogue with the residents of the region where the factory or facility is located, acceptable levels of health, hygiene, and working conditions in the company, factory, and facility. These fundamental rules should be followed globally.
Moreover, the principles of corporate social responsibility, responsible business conduct and corporate governance do not only concern multinational companies but every member of the leading business circles of every country. These principles apply to their own companies and firms and other companies that supply raw materials and intermediate products in the supply chain network. Companies cannot overlook whether their providers of raw materials or intermediate products employ child labor, pollute the environment, emit too much carbon into the air, or carry out accounting and financial transactions that do not comply with responsible business conduct. Therefore, companies must expand their responsibility to their entire supply network. If a company hires a subcontractor for a project, they are accountable for supervising whether the subcontractor fully complies with all the internationalized rules and business ethics.
On a global scale, this also means that countries should not use their position in the worldwide supply chain of energy and food supply as a "threat mechanism" or a "warning mechanism" that puts other countries in a difficult situation.
All the points mentioned above apply to the earthquake reality in Türkiye. If "being an earthquake country" is an inevitable reality for our country, the principles of the RBC, corporate social responsibility, and corporate governance are indispensable in the construction of high-quality, reliable buildings and residences in Türkiye's fight against earthquakes. In 2015, Türkiye took the initiative in the G-20 and ensured that the corporate governance principles of the OECD were also G-20 principles. We support the OECD for the new regulations that are renewed today. The contracting industry needs to determine urgently to what level they should raise the new high standards, such as bringing new heavy rules to be a contractor, so that these sufferings are never experienced again.
