The Enterprise Asia held its virtual award ceremony and international summit of The 2021 Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA) on September 2. With the promotion of the ReLife Project—Experimental Project for Self Pension Saving Investment, the Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation (TDCC) was one of the winners of the 11th AREA Social Empowerment Category. The award recognizes the TDCC as a leader spearheading the direction of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The ReLife Project promotes retirement wealth management, helps motivate the public to care more about financial planning, and drives the retirement investment ecosystem. For the above, the TDCC was highly recognized by professional judges in the international community.

Established in 2006, the AREA is the top-rated CSR award in Asia. The Enterprise Asia, a non-governmental organization (NGO), has received more than 500 entries from 19 countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Asia. This intensely competitive event also shows that enterprises in Asia have grown to increasingly value the promotion of CSR and sustainability. According to TDCC Chairman & CEO Sherman Lin, the company has not only been the recipient of the Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility of Commonwealth Magazine for three years in a row, but has also earned its second win for the Platinum at Corporate Sustainability Report and Social Inclusion of the 2020 Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards (TCSA). This is the second year for the TDCC to participate in the internationally-recognized AREA event. After four months of written document reviews, oral interviews, and expert evaluations, the TDCC stood out among the nominees. It is indeed an honor to be praised for the achievements of ReLife Project and become a two-time winner of the AREA Social Empowerment Category.

Chairman Lin also pointed out that retirement planning has grown to become a social issue as Taiwan’s population is aging. Under government policies, the TDCC has helped promote the ReLife Project. The program has successfully made financial planning for retirement an unprecedented trend among investors. The ReLife Project aims to encourage investors to prepare for their retirement with mutual fund investments and accumulate their assets for the long run. This financial strategy can help people adopt an active retirement lifestyle and facilitate an ecosystem of financial planning for retirement.

The TDCC utilizes its core capabilities as a financial market participant to expand the scope of influence of financial organizations as well as industry-academia-government collaborations. Based on the principles of charity and eco-friendliness, the long-term retirement-plan investment approach was proposed to address problems in an aged society. With sustainable development in mind, the TDCC also plans to continue to expand the Retirement Planning Platform as it has added many good deeds to the investment equation. The TDCC is planning to provide education, investment, insurance, and charity services along with pension saving funds of long-term savings plans and social security-based insurances. Through education opportunities and charity, the platform will aid the younger generation to know and understand more about aging issues and retirement planning. By reaching the goal of financial inclusion, we hope to build a more secure and steady society.

Video link: https://youtu.be/eXuj96S_uhc