Family businesses must lead the way in sustainability: TPC’s Chavalit Frederick Tsao

FAMILY businesses should be leading the way in implementing sustainable business practices and creating impact, said Chavalit Frederick Tsao, permanent honorary president of Family Business Network Asia and the fourth-generation leader of his own family’s business, Tsao Pao Chee (TPC).

“I’m calling on family businesses to lead change, because corporations have shareholders that have shareholders... They will move, but very slowly. In a family business, all we need to do is make up our minds,” he said.

Tsao feels strongly about the trajectory of the world and humanity. Climate change is the result of corporate greed, he said, both of which need to be checked. Family businesses can make a big difference to this trajectory because they constitute a significant part of the global economy.