Mon, Jun 18, 2018 page15

• INTERVIEW: BNP Paribas’ CSR entails a wide variety of programs

  BNP Paribas’ corporate philanthropy sees culture as a catalyst for personal and social development, which is why Taiwan country manager Olivier Rousselet tells ‘Taipei Times’ staff reporter Diane Baker that he likes to find events that can give back to the nation, but are also unique

  • By Diane Baker / Staff reporter
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  In recent decades, businesses have come to realize the importance of their corporate image not only to their shareholders and clients, but to the societies and nations in which they operate, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs have become a crucial part of not just corporate mission statements, but of brand development.

  The French international banking group BNP Paribas SA is rather unusual in the corporate world, in that it set up the BNP Paribas Foundation in 1984 to work in the fields of culture, the environment and solidarity as part of its CSR, which has four pillars: “the economy, our people, the community and the environment.”

  However, the foundation, as well as bank officials responsible for CSR, has a very broad definition of what can fall into the areas of “culture, environment and solidarity,” as BNP Paribas country manager Olivier Rousselet explained last month during an interview in his Taipei 101 office.

  

  BNP Paribas country manager Olivier Rousselet stands in his office in Taipei in an undated photograph.

  Photo courtesy of BNP Paribas

  “We are ‘the bank for a changing world.’ It is our motto and even on our name cards,” Rousselet started off the interview by saying.

  “The ability to change and do something different, that’s what we like; the ability to find special, different, unique and in line with bank image, as well as quality events where our clients will have a great time and they will remember,” he said.

  One such event is coming up at the end of this week, as BNP Paribas is a sponsor of the 12th Ballet Star Gala at the National Theater in Taipei on Friday, organized by producer Wang Tzer-shing’s (王澤馨) Art Wave Inc (黑潮藝術).

  While the gala is the first one that Rousselet has agreed to lend support to, it is not the first time that his team has worked with Art Wave; BNP Paribas was a sponsor of French dancer Sylvie Guillem’s Taipei visit on her 2015 farewell tour.

  However, Rousselet was quick to add that it was not just because Guillem is French that her show was chosen.

  “Sometimes it is difficult to know in advance how a program would turn out, but Sylvie Guillem’s Life in Progress was good and we are very happy to do gala, it is certainly an exception,” he said.

  “Branding is important,” he said. “It is not just a question of budget, but of finding a quality event that supports the brand. When you support art and culture, it cannot just be from the home country, but the country where you are.”

  “We are a global bank — the [ballet] gala is good, it is international,” he said.

  Sometimes the level of support is limited to buying tickets for an event for clients and providing a reception at the event for them, in other cases the support can be on an annual basis or more wide-ranging, judging from past programs and outreach activities that the banking group has been involved in.

  However, BNP Paribas’ support for dance programs is intriguing, as outside of Cathay Financial Holding Co’s (國泰金控) support for Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集) — especially the company’s annual outdoor performances as part of the Cathay Arts Festival — it is difficult to think of another big bank or corporation that is as involved in the arts as BNP Paribas is, in Taiwan or elsewhere.

  The BNP Paribas Foundation, for example, is renowned for its support of contemporary dance and jazz, among other programs, around the world.

  Rousselet said that some sponsorships in Taiwan are supported solely by BNP Paribas, be it its banking units or other business entities such as its insurance arm, Cardif Assurance Vie, while some are cosponsored with the foundation.

  “We are not looking just for events for our clients, but for Taiwan,” he said.

  Two examples that he cited were BNP Paribas’ support for hip-hop choreographer Mourad Merzouki’s YogeeTi (有機體), as part of the National Theater Concert Hall’s (NTCH) Taiwan International Festival of Arts in 2012, and Ballet Preljocaj’s Snow White for the festival two years before that.

  In both cases, the choreographers, Merzouki and Angelin Preljocaj, who are French, have been supported by the foundation almost since the beginning of their careers, so working with the NTCH on those shows was a natural progression, he said, although he was the one who suggested that NTCH collaborate with Merzouki.

  Sometimes suggestions come from the Paris headquarters, or Hong Kong as well as the foundation, while the individual units here in Taiwan also suggest their own programs, he said.

  Other notable collaborations with the foundation were working with the National Palace Museum in 2011 on restoring the “Xi Qing Xu Jian” (西清續鑑), a Qing Dynasty mirror case, to mark BNP Paribas’ 30th anniversary in Taiwan, which was headline news at the time, and sponsoring a light and sound exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum for the museum’s 30th anniversary in 2013.

  “We offered two technicians to study the piece, plus the cost of the actual restoration. The palace museum offered a cocktail reception in main lobby, for 600 guests, and a private visit of its new exhibition,” Rousselet said. “Our clients still remember it.”

  “We would like to do something similar for the 40th anniversary [of BNP Paribas in Taiwan], which is just two years away,” he said, adding that he is still trying to come up with something equally spectacular.

  “The challenge is to find something different that also clients like, but we see many, many opportunities,” he said. “Taiwan’s art scene is so rich and avant-garde in this respect.”

  However, “the type of programs has to be in line with our message, our image, budget and priorities. We want to convey this to clients and staff,” he said.

  “This is where it is complicated. We [each business line] have different clients. Insurance is more retail so it does things for more people, while shows like the ballet and others are bank-wide. We also have a limited budget and space, so we are taking 400 tickets for the gala for our clients, while a program for insurance would mean 3,000 people,” he said.

  BNP Paribas Cardif, for example, has become known for its support of the Paper Windmill Arts and Educational Foundation (紙風車文教基金會), whose theater group makes annual tours to give performances for children at schools nationwide.

  Asked who gets to decide on what events and the scale, Rousselet chuckled.

  “It’s not always me, unfortunately. Insurance has its own budget, but I want to know, to make sure it’s good for image, In line with what we should be doing for our line. Each business line might have own activists [creative people],” he said.

  “We also support schools in Pingtung County,” he said, referring to programs at the Cing Yu and Wu Ling elementary schools to support Aboriginal students in learning about their cultures, and sponsoring an annual performance by Aboriginal youngsters at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei.

  The Paris-headquartered foundation also supports traditional arts and culture though the “Dream Up” program, launched in 2012 as part of its international social inclusion policy.

  Sports is another area where the bank is involved, in Taiwan and around the world. Its sponsorship of tennis on both the professional level, such as the French Open, as well as the federation and amateur levels dates back to 1973.

  In Taiwan, BNP Paribas’ wealth management group has sponsored the Taiwan Ladies Professional Golf Association’s Heritage Tour since 2016, where its clients can compete with golf association professionals.

  CSR also involves annual holiday gifts to clients, but trying to come up with something unique every year presents its own kind of challenges.

  Rousselet said he is trying to think of something different to do for the Mid-Autumn Festival and the annual mooncake gift boxes.

  “Something more useful to Taiwan, rather than just five-star hotels, [who make the boxes], although they are our clients,” he said.

  “I still have not found what I want. I don’t want to just push mooncakes like everyone does. I would like to find an association for elderly or special needs of Aboriginal, or education. I prefer to give this kind of budget on something for good,” he said.

  He also noted that with three branches in Taiwan now, including in Kaohsiung and Taichung, he has to think about how to balance the interests of BNP Paribas’ line units and the customers in those cities.

  For example, the focus is on wealth management in Taichung, while in Kaohsiung it is wealth management and corporate banking, he said, so that factors into what kind of events are sponsored in those two cities.

  “Taipei will always have preference. There is not enough budget, time and manpower to do big events in the others,” he said.

  However, the most important thing is that “we like to give back to country,” he said.

  This includes the people who work for the company, he said, adding that he would like to do more to get staff involved in programs, to give them a chance to contribute, since BNP Paribas is very large in Taiwan, especially for a non-retail bank, with 650 employees.

  “They already have one day a year to do CSR activities, like beach cleaning, Aboriginal outreach, butterfly conservation in Taichung, but we can do more to get staff involved,” he said.
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