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Inco's goal is to be the world's leading nickel company. Given our 100-year plus history, our growth program and our current business success, that goal may not seem so lofty. But the dimensions of leadership go beyond the volume of our production, the quality of our products and the financial returns to our investors.
Our goal extends with equal commitment to the health and safety of our employees, the impact of our environmental footprint, our commitment to making safe and acceptable products, and, as this report details, our sense of responsibility to the social and cultural fabric of the diverse and international community in which we operate.
From a social responsibility perspective, we made important progress in 2004.
For example, when a devastating tsunami struck the Aceh province of Indonesia, Inco and PT Inco responded with a major corporate contribution to humanitarian relief efforts, while our employees showed their generosity with fundraising efforts at virtually every one of our worldwide operations. Our response to this tragedy is consistent with our long history of working together to address local priorities in Indonesia. In 2004, our extensive community development program in Sorowako included major new investments in our community health care centre and outreach program. We also introduced new initiatives to facilitate inter-faith and cultural harmony in the area.
We are living up to our commitments for aboriginal involvement in the development of our Voisey's Bay project in Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2004, we contributed to community infrastructure, fostered small business development and exceeded our local employment targets as construction continued.
Wherever we work, whether at our existing operations or development projects, our approach with the community is rooted in consultation. At our Goro development project in New Caledonia, we have engaged a cross-section of local leaders in a process to maximize local benefits from the project and to minimize negative impacts. Community support for this process, known as the Forum of Initiatives (Carrefour des Initiatives), has been gratifying. We have also launched a local contractor development program to assure their fair participation in the Goro project as construction begins in earnest in 2005. And we have initiated a recruitment and training program to move forward in achieving our publicly stated goal of 90 per cent local employment over time for operation of Goro's planned mine and related facilities.
While Inco has long been considered an international corporation, our global perspective as well as the pace of our expansion have increased dramatically in recent years. Our growth plans for New Caledonia and Indonesia clearly illustrate this direction. But less evident in our expansion program is our growth in the People's Republic of China, notably the new nickel foam plant in Dalian that we opened in 2004 to serve the battery industry and the rapid growth in hybrid electric vehicles.
As our role evolves on this international stage, we are keenly aware of the special challenges we face in applying consistent and appropriate standards of social responsibility across such a diverse cultural, economic and political landscape.
At all times, in all parts of the world, we regard the health and safety of every employee as our number one priority. We believe in and practice workplace equality. We're committed to assuring dignity and respect for all our employees. We continue to strive to fully involve and engage our employees in our business, and to give them opportunities to grow and reach their full potential with us. In turn, we insist upon every employee meeting the highest standards of ethical conduct and behaviour.
We make products that society needs, and we're committed to making them in a way that is acceptable to society. We accept responsibility for the effect of our operations on the environment, and we act responsibly to mitigate and address those effects.
We sustain strong levels of community contribution and development worldwide. Throughout our entire organization, we have become much more responsive to corporate governance issues, and the need for transparency and accountability to our public stakeholders, an objective which is evidenced by this report.
But leadership demands more of us. For more than a century, Inco has taken pride in the underlying values, principles and behaviours that have marked our progress and success. Today we need to ask ourselves whether our corporate values and standards remain appropriate for a new century and, more to the point, the new reality of increased international operation. As part of our social responsibility development, in 2005 we are initiating a re-evaluation of our values and principles and how we apply our standards across all the communities in our international operations. An employee advisory group that has helped frame our corporate Social Responsibility Report and continues to provide counsel on social issues facing the company will lead this process. This team will reach into the Inco community in an effort to achieve the broadest possible perspective on the standards we must all commit to and live by.
While this 2004 report is about "corporate" social responsibility, its credibility depends upon the daily decisions we all make, and the expression of attitudes and behaviour by all of our employees worldwide. Who better to help us shape the future than the people who will live our values every day?
Scott M. Hand
Chairman and CEO
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