The award ceremony of the 2022 Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards (TCSA) was held today (16th) at the 12F Grand Ballroom of the Grand Hotel. Both Eastern Media International Corporation and ETMall under the Eastern Group won awards, with Chairman Eastern Media International Corporation Liao Shang-Wen and General Manger Peng Hong-Wu of ETMall were present to receive the award. In addition to the Gold Award in 2020 and 2021, Eastern Media International Corporation (2614) won the 2022 Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Report – Trade and Department Store Category Second-grade Platinum Award; while ETMall, a subsidiary of Eastern Media International Corporation, also won the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Report – Trade and Department Store Industry First-grade Gold Award. This fully demonstrates the commitment of the Eastern Group to long-term investment in sustainable management.

   Liao Shang-Wen said that the company is grateful to the judges for showing their affirmation with the Platinum award. President Gary Wang of Eastern, specifically instructed the launch of the key plan for the first year of ESG for Eastern Group, which is dedicated to short-, medium- and long-term ESG sustainable development plans in the areas of corporate governance, environmental protection and social responsibility. It is the hope that the entire company can reach a consensus and work together to move towards a sustainable enterprise.

   In terms of corporate governance, Eastern Media International Corporation’s Corporate Governance and Sustainable Development Committee was established under the Board of Directors in November 2021. It consists of three independent directors, the chairperson, a spokesperson, and the head of Corporate Governance, with one of the independent directors serving as the convener and chairman of the meeting. In addition, seven groups have been established for corporate governance, integrity management, risk management, employee care, environmental sustainability, customer relations, and social care, with independent directors serving as group conveners to lead the company in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the 8th Corporate Governance Review (2021), Eastern Media International Corporation also made significant progress, with a 44% improvement in results and ranking in the top 35% of 913 listed companies (21% to 35% in Tier 3), and will continue to improve its competitiveness.

   In terms of environmental sustainability, the global environment has been under serious threat in recent years and climate change is a common challenge worldwide. As a result, Eastern Media International Corporation established the Energy Management Group for its warehousing division in 2021, as to take the lead in implementing the ISO 50001 energy management system. The four silos in Kaohsiung and Taichung were externally verified and certified in February and September 2022, and a greenhouse gas inventory was completed in accordance with ISO 14064-1 in 2022, and a third-party inspection was completed in September. At the same time, the training of specialized personnel was carried out, and a total of 42 staff members obtained the certificate of completion of greenhouse gas inventory and quantification internal validation. It was also planned to implement ISO 14001 environmental management system by 2023 in an effort to move towards the 2050 net zero carbon emission target.

   In terms of social participation, Eastern Group has long been involved in public welfare activities. For 16 years, ETMall has provided the Breakfasts Made of Love to Indigenous children in remote areas, and sponsored a total of 35,000 children. ETMall also donated celebration dishes to care for the elderly in the community, helped to rehabilitate former inmates to readjust to society, and assisted in promoting the sale of agricultural, fishery, and livestock products from various counties and cities. In addition, during the pandemic, Eastern Group supported frontline healthcare workers by donating masks, skincare and health care products, and it also looked after disadvantaged groups. Eastern was also the only company in the industry that proactively arranged free PCR testing for its employees, took out vaccine insurance, and distributed free health supplement products. As the pandemic subsides, inflation and price increases followed, and Eastern Group took the lead in raising employee salaries in mid-2021 to take care of employees’ livelihoods. In the list of award winners of the “2022 Happy Enterprise” awards organized by 1111 Job Bank, Eastern Media International Corporation, ETMall, and ETwarm under the Eastern Group won the Gold Award again this year, while Eastern Natural Beauty and Oscar Pet Mall also won the Silver Award.

   Eastern Group is also committed to environmental protection. Under the leadership of President Gary Wang, it responded to the New Taipei City Government’s “Mountain Sea Forestation Plan” by planting 200 trees at the Wen Sun Farm in New Taipei City in April this year; and also held a beach clean-up event at Green Bay in Wanli District, New Taipei City in September this year. They paid tribute to the mountain forests and the ocean through taking practical action. Following the global sustainability wave, Eastern designated 2022 as the “first year of ESG for Eastern Group” and all Eastern Group’s subsidiary companies will continue to refine their ESG indicators for environmental protection, social responsibility and corporate governance in order to move toward becoming a sustainable ESG company.

   A total of 424 companies participated in this year’s Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards (TCSA), a 29% increase from last year and reaching a record high. Eugene Chien, TSCA’s chief convener, pointed out that the total annual turnover of the participating companies and the total government budget this year amounted to NT$36.13 trillion, accounting for 76% of the market value of listed companies in Taiwan. This is an indication that ESG has evolved from mere moral persuasion and legal regulation 15 years ago to becoming an essential part of corporate DNA, and it is good to see the efforts of major corporations towards Taiwan society.