COMMUNITY INVESTMENT We have renamed our section on Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy as Community Investment to better reflect the emphasis placed on continuity and sustainability in our philanthropic endeavours. Since 2012, Capital A’s community engagements have been undertaken primarily by AirAsia Foundation whose mission is to support social enterprises in Asean through the provision of business grants, business mentorship and platforms that help them grow their market and attain self-sufficiency. This mission helps deliver the Foundation’s vision to be a leading corporate citizen that contributes to Asean communitybuilding efforts in a way that stays true to Capital A’s entrepreneurial spirit. The renaming also captures the help given to small businesses to transition to e-commerce via airasia travelmall (formerly OURSHOP), Teleport and our new entities, especially airasia farm and airasia grocer. In addition to the Foundation’s work, the Group stands ready to act in times of humanitarian need. Hence, our Community Investment disclosure is divided into two sections - the first addressing our support of social enterprise and small businesses; and the second detailing our humanitarian relief and rehabilitation activities. The total value of Capital A’s community investment and humanitarian activities can be summarised as follows: Type of Contribution Total (RM) Cash contribution 139,996 Employee volunteerism during paid working hours 346,159 Contributions in kind 25,851 Management overheads 166,050 (i) Social Enterprise and SME Support Since the pandemic, AirAsia Foundation has awarded only one grant due to movement restrictions as well as reduced activity of many social enterprises. In May 2021, Council Members of the Foundation extended the suspension of the grant programme for an additional year given continued uncertainty over the pandemic. Instead, AirAsia Foundation focused on providing skills support and platform building activities for grant recipients and others. A key activity was to monitor progress made by the 2020 grant recipient, Dusun Merdeka, in improving its cocoa processing facilities, and purchasing beans from indigenous farmers. Since receiving its grant in August 2020, Dusun Merdeka has been able to expand its livelihood support programme from benefitting 50 indigenous families to 150 families from three states across Malaysia, ie Pahang, Perak and Sabah, that were facing economic hardship compounded by the pandemic. With the farmers, Dusun Merdeka also replanted over 100 native trees within the secondary forest bordering Malaysia’s National Park, to create a natural environment for cocoa plants to thrive without pesticides. Cocoa fruit produced by the indigenous farmers in Pahang Grant approved RM78,320 Amount disbursed as of 31 December 2021 RM60,000 Grant progress 77% S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y S T A T E M E N T A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 2 1 1 5 1
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