Repsol commits to sustainable business and social investments
KOTA KINABALU: Repsol Malaysia will continue its social investments in Sabah and extend its support to Petronas and government initiatives and collaborate with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and special interest groups on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
Its business unit director, Jorge Milathianakis, told Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Mohd Shafie bin Apdal this during a courtesy call recently.
Jorge also said that Repsol’s operations in Sabah have offered spin-off effects to several Sabahan companies with significant value.
He said that various service contracts and material supply agreements would continue to be tendered out, and Sabah-based companies with the right technical and financial capabilities will have the opportunity to compete for the work.
Malaysia remains a potential growth area for Repsol in the Asia-Pacific Region and the company looks forward to further enhancing its presence beyond its existing assets in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah.
Repsol presently operates in offshore Sabah after taking over a production field known as Kinabalu in 2012 under the Petroleum Sharing Contract (PSC) with Petronas and in partnership with Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd. It also operates two other producing assets in offshore Peninsular Malaysia.
Repsol will continue to run its business in alignment with the company’s Sustainability Model to build solid relationships with the communities and stakeholders we are involved with, based on mutual respect, trust, inclusive dialogue and the creation of shared value.
Repsol Sustainability Model, which stems from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), revolves around ethics and transparency, people, safe operation, environment, climate change and innovation and technology.
Through this Sustainability Model, Repsol has implemented action plans on social investments and community support programmes as a part of strategically aligning the company’s objectives with stakeholder needs.
To date, Repsol has awarded scholarships amounting to more than RM4 million to 118 students pursuing Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in the local universities.
At the primary and secondary school levels, Repsol has assisted over 200 underprivileged schoolchildren through its annual Motivational Awards.
In promoting Safety, the company has also conducted personal Safety Awareness programme benefiting over 9,000 schoolchildren in Sabah, Labuan and Terengganu.
To enhance the capability and empowering the local communities in Sabah, Repsol has trained 60 rural women into skill craftsperson while a group of 10 young fishermen have been trained to rear stingless honey bee to enable them to earn alternative income.
Repsol has also been supporting the annual World Thalassemia Day programmes, which are aimed at raising awareness of the disease especially in Sabah, which has the highest number of Thalassemia patients in Malaysia.
Repsol, in collaboration with the Department of Environment (DoE), has organized Environmental Educational Camps annually to raise awareness among our younger generation on the need to protect and conserve our environment. More than 500 schoolchildren from various districts in Sabah have benefited from this program.
As part of its Social Integration, Repsol employees have been participating in the annual climb of Mount Kinabalu while raising money for charity organisations. To date a total of RM400,000 has been raised and distributed to local charities in Sabah and Labuan.