Founder Muhammed Aziz Khan on Summit Group’s Approach to Corporate Responsibility

Corporate responsibility has been ingrained in Summit Group’s operations since its founding by Muhammed Aziz Khan. While the company has built Bangladesh’s largest infrastructure conglomerate, it has simultaneously pursued initiatives aimed at addressing social and environmental challenges. This approach reflects Khan’s belief that business success should translate into broader societal benefits.

“The creation of wealth should not be only for personal gain and pleasure, but also for the improvement of humanity,” says Khan.

Education as the Foundation of Equality 

Khan has consistently emphasized the transformative power of education in creating a more equitable society.

“Education is the biggest enabler of equality in the world. And therefore, we focus on how to educate the people around the power plants or around any of our facilities,” he says. “We built schools and handed them over to the local authorities so that the children can study.”

Through the Anjuman Aziz Charitable Trust, Summit Group supports the education of thousands of disadvantaged children in Bangladesh who would otherwise lack access to schooling. “I am very pleased to say that we are teaching about 9,000 children in Bangladesh,” says Khan.

The trust operates programs that have established multiple schools serving students between ages 6 and 16, with a particular focus on hard-to-reach areas. These educational initiatives have been operating for more than 15 years, providing consistent support to communities across Bangladesh.

Corporate Responsibility Through Core Business Operations 

The company’s leadership emphasizes that its infrastructure projects themselves represent a form of social contribution by addressing critical needs in Bangladesh.

“I think the biggest corporate social responsibility we have is to provide low-cost energy infrastructure to the people of this region, especially to the people of Bangladesh,” says Ayesha Khan, managing director and CEO of Summit Power International.

“The business that we are doing is a socially responsible business,” she continues. “We are investing in an energy infrastructure which a country really needs.”

Muhammed Aziz Khan frames this approach in terms of broader philosophical principles about equality and human progress: “A desire of human goodness to bring in civilizations of equality and corporate social responsibility is part of the larger expectation of humanity.”

This philosophy translates into Summit prioritizing projects that meet fundamental needs.

“I believe that the government of Bangladesh is equally supportive of this equality aspect,” he continues. “The government has been able to bring in primary education, bring in women’s rights, bring in reproductive rights. All those are aspects that Bangladesh governments have done well, but there are still pockets which are left untouched by the government. That’s where we want to go.”

Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability 

As Bangladesh faces particular vulnerability to climate change impacts, Summit Group has emphasized the importance of addressing environmental concerns.

Despite Bangladesh’s relatively small carbon footprint, Khan believes the country still has an obligation to contribute to global climate solutions: “We are one of the lowest emitters of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases. Having said that, it does not stop our responsibility to be a party to the sustainability program of the whole world.”

Summit Group has translated Khan’s environmental concerns into concrete sustainability commitments across its operations.

“In 2023 September, we approved a sustainability strategy for the group,” says Wu Yan Bin, chief financial officer at SPI. “The sustainability strategy aims to reduce our scope one and scope two emission intensity.”

This strategy includes specific targets for incorporating renewable energy sources.

“We are trying to reduce this emission intensity by 10% by 2030 as compared to our 2021 baseline target,” says Yan Bin. “And we have also set a target for ourselves to try to procure 100 megawatts of renewable generation assets to add to our portfolio by 2030.”

The most ambitious long-term goal in Summit’s sustainability roadmap aims for net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, aligning with similar commitments from the company’s partner JERA, which holds a 22% stake in Summit Power International.

Connecting Business Success with Social Progress 

For Khan, the relationship between business success and social responsibility is not merely about allocating profits to charitable causes but about fundamentally integrating social benefit into how business is conducted. This perspective informs Summit Group’s overall approach to corporate responsibility.

Khan emphasizes that businesses naturally impact their surrounding communities, creating obligations along with opportunities.

“As corporations become larger, they become very important stakeholders for society,” he says. “We want to be able to be a corporation that is responsible both for its shareholders and for all its stakeholders.”

“I tell myself, and I tell my team, and I tell everyone that I’m working with that the most important focus that we need to have is to be able to bring low-cost energy infrastructure to the people of Bangladesh — because that is what they need the most,” says Ayesha Khan.

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