On behalf of Helpline Trust, I would like to thank you all for participating in our second CSR Awards. The objectives of these Awards are to make corporations take ownership of their responsibilities to the consumers and look after their interest by Putting The Consumer First and provide quality products at an affordable price to them.

The awards have been given to those Companies who have demonstrated a commendable commitment to the consumers, as well as the community within which it operates. The Awards have recognized corporate entities that have made positive contributions to the betterment of civil society through sustainable social interventions.

The 18 companies that have qualified, met the strict criteria set in a questioner, drawn up by a panel of experts in CSR, consisting of Mr. Zohare Ali Shariff, Ms. Khadeeja Balkhi, Ms. Rutaba Ahmed and Ms. Afia Usman Aziz. 

The selection was then approved by a three member panel of judges, which included Jst. (Retd) Majida Razvi, Trustee, Helpline Trust, Mrs. Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, Oxford University Press and Mr. David Watson of SEED Business Consulting, an expert in the field of CSR.

Certificates of Merit are also being given to three companies, namely Mobilink, Indus Motor Company Limited and Attock Refinery Limited, who scored the highest points as per the criteria in the questionnaire.

We hope that these awards will serve as role models for other manufacturers and service sector organizations and that next year there will be more companies who will be selected for the awards.

However, we will be introducing some changes in the Awards next year, which will be even more consumer oriented and will be called Corporate Responsibility to Consumers Awards.

Before I end, I would like to add that due to the lack of Consumer Protection laws and consumer courts, our markets are flooded with counterfeit and look alike products, seriously hurting consumers. Counterfeit products are also stealing major market share of genuine brand owners and adversely affecting their business.

As such, Helpline Trust is introducing Anti Counterfeit and Quality Assurance Labels for life saving drugs and value added products. In this connection, we have established contact with a European based group, who also operate in Pakistan and are world leaders in providing security for high value documents and have recently extended the technology to brand protection.

The solution they have offered is an optically variable mark which enables the consumer to instantly distinguish the genuine from the fake with the naked eye. The solutions are cost effective and easy to apply.

We sincerely hope that socially responsible companies will support us in our efforts and voluntarily introduce these anti counterfeit labels for their products.

In the end, I would like to thank our panel of experts, our honorable judges, the Helpline Trust team under the able guidance of Mrs. Farkhanda Ahmed and Abdul Karim, friends of Helpline Trust and the companies who have participated in the Awards.

I sincerely hope that you will continue to support our activities in the future.

Thank you,

A. Hamid Maker
Founder Trustee