Maersk Line received on Thursday 24 March 2011 the appreciation of the Royal Thai Government for its CSR assistance last year to transport 3525 tons of rice to Haiti after the devastating earthquake there one year agao. The multi-donor response was commemorated at a ceremony in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with representatives from all the countries who helped Thailand ship and distribute the 20.000 tons of rice to the Haitian people.
The ceremony started with a one minute silence in memory of the victims of the Haiti earthquake, followed by a video presentation on the rice shipment operations. Speeches on the occasion were held by Mr Kasit Promya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, the Ambassador of Spain on behalf of also the two other donor countries, New Zealand and Switzerland, and the Asian Regional Director of the WFP which distributed the rice in Haiti.
Maersk Line’s speech was held by Mr. Sirichai Puttawetmongkol, Country Sales Manager of Maersk Line Thailand. He represented the private sector assistance comprising of Maersk Line itself and Thai Airways International that had flown an emergency shipment of 97 tons of rice to Haiti immediately after the disaster.
“What I find most impressive is that immediately after the quake, contributions from the Thai government, several organisations and the private sector were in place to help Haiti. For Maersk Line, we realized that transportation was one of the key elements to transport the aid cargo to help the suffering people,” Mr. Sirichai Puttawetmongkol said, explaining how the Danish container line had utilized its global network to ship the 3520 metric tons to the Port of Caucedu in the Dominican republic.
“Corporate Social Responsibility as well as environmental concern are areas that we should focus on. It is not just a buzz word for good advertisement but it should be meant to a sustainable future, a cleaner world, heighten the health & safety standard for the community we live in,” Mr. Sirichai Puttawetmongkol added.
Danish Ambassador Mikael Hemniti Winther attended the ceremony and congratulated afterward Mr. Sirichai Puttawetmongkol with the fine recognition that Maersk Line received for its donation.
