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Hyundai unveils road map for CSR activities

Hyundai Motor Group said it will expand its social contribution activities by providing job training programs and aiding start-ups, in an announcement Monday of its corporate social responsibility road map for the next 10 years.

The nation’s second-largest conglomerate said it will carry out such activities with the whole group as the main operator. Previously, programming was carried out separately by the group’s two auto giants - Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors. The new structure adds more of the group’s affiliates, such as Hyundai Steel, to the fold.

“Such moves came because our chairman [Chung Mong-koo] emphasized social contribution activities in his New Year’s speech,” a Hyundai Motor spokesman said. “In order to make society happier and grow with local communities, we will expand our social activities, including creating more jobs to resolve unemployment problems. Since we don’t want these new plans to be just empty talk, we will encourage employees to positively carry out activities all year long.”

The group started engaging in social contribution work regularly since 2003 and has carried out diverse types of activities, including a development program in 2013 for young leaders.

The group has been running big projects for years, including the H-On Dream Audition, which helps foster young social entrepreneurs, and the Seocho Creative Hub, which provides a mentoring and education program for start-ups. Hyundai Motor Group said it will add two more programs called Dream Move and Next Move.

The Next Move program will be operated by one of the group’s key affiliates, Hyundai Steel, to help people hoping to establish start-ups in heavy industries. The program will offer the company’s technology, service and infrastructure.

As part of the contribution, Hyundai Steel will also run an H-Recycle Center to improve distribution channels for scrap iron, benefiting small-business owners. Hyundai Wia, an auto parts maker, will help start-ups by allowing them access to their machine tools for product development.

The Dream Move program will focus on helping people in low-income brackets start their own businesses.

Hyundai also said it will expand its four existing programs. The Easy Move program will continue providing vehicles for disabled people, while Safe Move will keep running its series of educational programs to promote safer traffic culture, and Green Move will continue programs that respond to climate change and engage in environmental preservation activities.

To ensure the quality of its programming, the group will evaluate the performance of its social contribution activities at the end of the year, and reward employees and divisions that successfully helped local communities.

“We don’t know how much will be spent on these social contribution activities for now,” a Hyundai spokesman said. “But we will consistently expand the business in accordance with our chairman’s will.”

BY KWON SANG-SOO [kwon.sangsoo@joongang.co.kr]