Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) was recognized in the Social Empowerment Category at the recently concluded Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards (AREA) 2015 held in Macau. 

Organised by Enterprise Asia, the awards honour companies across Asia for outstanding and effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes conducted with a focus on being truly sustainable. As such, CTC’s unprecedented contribution towards social sustainable development through their on-going Sustainable Agriculture Development Programme (SADP) has been recognised as one of the best across the continent.  

Over the years, SADP has developed into one of the largest private-sector CSR initiatives across Sri Lanka. The programme reaches out to villagers living below the poverty line and guides them with education and resources to achieve self-sustenance. SADP works on the philosophy of ‘helping those who help themselves’, while promoting sustainable agricultural development that has in turn created a paradigm shift in the attitude among rural communities across the island. 

Commenting on this accomplishment, CTC Managing Director and CEO Felicio Ferraz said, “It is indeed an honour that our efforts towards the sustainable development of the nation have been recognized on such a prestigious and international platform. Since the inception of SADP in 2006, we have taken the necessary steps to evolve the project in ways that meet changing national priorities. As a responsible corporate we strive to implement activities that actively contribute towards societal needs and are humbly proud that our endeavours have been recognized.”

The AREA Awards demonstrate an organisation’s leadership, sincerity and on-going commitment in incorporating responsible and ethical values and involvement in the social uplifting of communities and the environment into the way they run their enterprise. Accordingly, in the nine years of its operation, SADP has expanded to cover 16 districts and have successfully touched the lives of over 17,400 families totalling over 67,000 beneficiaries, islandwide.   

Speaking on this latest achievement, CTC CSR Manager Senaka de Fonseka said, “Sustainability and corporate social responsibility are key components that underpin CTC‘s business ethics and efforts of being a corporate benchmark in Sri Lanka. The recognition of the SADP programme on a coveted platform such as the AREA Awards is an opportunity to further amplify the message of our sustainable CSR efforts on a global platform. It is without a doubt a testament of our commitment to uplifting under developed communities in Sri Lanka.”