From our heritage as a family-owned company, we recognise the importance of taking care of the communities that surround us. We see ourselves as an integral part of our communities, and we are committed to making those communities better for everyone who lives there.

Education is at the heart of Hikma’s commitment to society. We co-operate with local universities and professional colleges in on-site student training, site visits and assistance with research projects.

We continue to work with a host of local charities and have invested time and funds into local projects. We remain committed to encouraging Group-wide employee involvement in our work with charities to build strong, ongoing relationships. In particular, in 2007 we worked with Tkiyet Um Ali, a nongovernmental organisation helping to eradicate hunger in Jordan.

Charitable donations constitute another part of Hikma’s role within our communities. In 2007, we donated a total of $700,000 in cash, most of which went to the King Abdullah Fund for Development which seeks to alleviate poverty in Jordan. The medical donations worth $592,000 were mostly made through the Hashemite Rescue Committee, which offers relief to disaster stricken areas such as Bangladesh. Other medical donations were made to physicians organising free medical days.

Initiatives launched in 2007:

• Jordan: Partnered with national universities and colleges to allow students to train at our facilities and to undertake technical research projects.
• Algeria: Organised a 10-day event for Algerian women working from home. This event gave them the opportunity to exhibit and sell their wares, and was supported by the Algerian national agency for small loans.
• US: Donated test equipment to support science in primary education.
• Jordan: Donated $25,000 worth of medicines for Africa Mercy, a project undertaken by Mercy Ships to improve the healthcare capacity of African countries by providing medical training and surgical services.

Targets for 2008:

• All of the main units will organise an annual Hikma volunteering day, supported by the CSR Champions. The theme for 2008 will be raising cancer awareness.