Message from the Chairman

Over the past years AVer has aggressively repositioned our products and organization to master the trends in global electronic education and video conferencing. "AVer Education Solutions", "Cloud Video Conferencing" and other new products received praise from our customers and further drove both our revenue and profit growth. We greatly appreciate all our employees at HQ and abroad for their efforts and our suppliers and customers for their support in pushing AVer one step forward.

To maintain sustainable development, AVer has applied our business philosophy of "Be down to earth, Create value, Devote one’s self, and Serve the community" and our mission to "Innovate the way people communicate and enhance their learning, and be an enterprise that contributes to the society’’. We focus on our business in order to stabilize our management, create value, serve people, protect the earth, and fulfill our corporate social responsibilities. We periodically review and improve our corporate procedures in a transparent and open way as to increase the public’s understanding of our efforts in corporate social responsibility. We respond to our investors, employees, customers, suppliers, communities, government agencies, stakeholders, etc. on important issues as well as to identify areas we will strengthen.

AVer is committed to improving our corporate governance and internal control systems. We continue to improve the quality of our information disclosures and were listed as one of the top 21-35% of companies in the Corporate Governance Evaluation by the Taiwan Stock Exchange. AVer is people-oriented. We uphold respect for human rights and recruit the right people. We care for our employees training and endeavor to promote harmonious labor relations in pursuit of maximum profit for the company. Environmental friendliness is done by setting up a comprehensive environmental management system which begins at product development. We design low-energy consuming products and promote green factories, green supply chains, and green products. Our manufacturing processes comply with international environmental safety and health standards. AVer also engages in energy saving and carbon reduction measures within the company.

Rooted in Taiwan but aimed at the global market, AVer products are sold in over 100 countries worldwide. Taiwan, as the operational headquarters, is responsible for R&D, manufacturing, and marketing. Subsidiaries, regional offices and business representatives promote products in their local markets. AVer is dedicated to integrating technological education products into teaching to improve learning and narrow the educational gap between urban and rural areas. In caring for education and environmental protection issues, we strongly promote an hourly volunteer system and encourage our employees to allot at least half a day every year to engage in public service activities.

We will keep our integrity, self-reflection, and self-devoted spirit as we continue to innovate and create corporate value that best uses our corporate resources. As such, we will never forget to pursue the best interests of all stakeholders and to fulfill our corporate social responsibilities.

Corporate Social Responsibility & Organizational Commitment

AVer’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) guidelines comply with the laws and norms of each country and internationally. They reflect our corporate value which is "to be people-oriented, maintain integrity, reflect on oneself, and exceed oneself" and our business philosophy which is "to be down to earth, create value, devote oneself, and serve people". Based on our company’s sustainable management and development, we communicate with stakeholders openly and maintain a good relationship with them, which makes us become a trustworthy enterprise.

Our managers and employees must abide by our corporate social responsibility guidelines, as follows:

• Consumer protection: We respect the rights and interests of consumers. We develop products and services according to consumer demand based on our principle to be customer-oriented. We are also committed to protecting their personal information and comply with each country’s Personal Data Protection Act.
• Employee rights and relations: We respect our employees and protect their rights and benefits. We strengthen labor-employer relations. We create a working environment that is secure and healthy, without sexual harassment and discrimination – a workplace where employees all have fair treatment.
• Business partners and fair trade: We carefully choose suitable business partners (such as suppliers and distributors). We value our business partners and base our long-term relationship on mutual trust and benefit. At the same time, AVer respects free market competition and complies with the Fair Trade Act of each country.
• Innovation and intellectual property protection: We encourage innovation and endeavor to protect the company's intellectual property rights. We comply with the intellectual property laws in each country and internationally.
• Taxation, shareholders' equity and corporate governance: We fulfill the obligation to pay tax and actively create corporate value and stable growth to maintain long-term interests for our shareholders. AVer emphasizes corporate governance by offering our shareholders and investors real-time, transparent, open, and reliable information, which fully disclose relevant information (such as company structure, financial status, social responsibility and corporate governance, etc.).
• Maintenance of environmental sustainability: We pursue sustainable growth and we are committed to harmonious co-existance with the environment. Apart from following relevant environmental laws, we also put our focus on technological innovation. We design and manufacture green products with low pollution and low energy consumption. AVer encourages our employees to contribute themselves in environmental protection activities and cooperates with other organizations and individuals to jointly safeguard the Earth and our living environment.
• Establishment of harmonious and healthy community relations: AVer respects the local culture, customs and historical heritage. Participating in community activities, giving back to the society and caring for the disadvantaged groups allow us to fulfill our corporate social responsibility. We should aslo maintain an open, honorable and fair relation with our business partners, government agencies or public authority.
• Social care and participation: AVer actively promotes social welfare activities with a heart to serve perople. We care about the development of education, humanities and science and technology so as to achieve our mission of being an enterprise that contributes to the society.

We continue to pay close attention to the external environment and the development of new issues. Periodically, we try to reflect on ourselves and review the current situation. We openly communicate about our efforts on corporate social responsibility. We also respond to our shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, and communities about relevant issues they are concerned of. Overall, we create greater value for our stakeholders.

AVer CSR guidelines provide a basis for our managers and employees to follow. The PR office, HR department, Health and Safety Management department, Procurement department, Technical Services, and relevant departments put them into practice on their respective issues. They will need to report regularly to the upper management and the Board of Directors.

Green Environment

AVer takes action to protect the environment. From design, procurement, manufacture to deliver, our products and processes are strictly controlled to meet the requirements of international environmental protection regulations. Inside AVer’s office building and manufacturing plant, we implement energy saving, carbon reduction, garbage classification schemes and promote them throughout the organization.

Moreover, the company encourages staff members, and their families and friends to join us in participating in the annual “Clean up the World” campaign and ecology conservation activities. Believing that every great achievement originates from small steps and individuals, we work from our hearts and hope to arouse the general public’s attention to protect the environment.

Through establishing various management systems and making continuous improvement to ensure the effectiveness of their implementation, AVer incorporates the “green” concept in the processes of product design and manufacture to minimize environmental impact by our operation.

IECQ QC 080000 Hazardous Substance Process Management System

AVer selects ”green” components for product design and utilizes “green” materials for subsequent manufacturing. Operational and management procedures fulfill the requirements of IECQ QC 080000, and the content levels of hazardous substances in our products comply with the limits set forth in the EU’s RoHS Directive (2011/65/EU) directive. In addition to meeting international standards, our green product (GP) and clean production program has also passed the certification audits of major ODM customers.

ISO 14001 Environmental Management System

The successful achievement of clean production at AVer relies partly on the implementation of ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. Through the identification of environmental aspects associated with our business activities, we monitor processes, including recycling, treatment, process changes, control mechanisms, efficient use of resources and material substitution, to minimize the impact to the environment. Not only do we comply with the existing environmental regulations over waste recycling and treatment, we also track and respond to the development of the regulations in a timely manner to ensure our daily environmental management stay aligned with the newest trends.

ISO 14064-1 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Verification

AVer’s first task in tackling global warming is to quantify and report its total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using the norms established by ISO 14064-1. Building these norms into our operations allows us to identify risks relating to restrictions on greenhouse gases and emissions reduction opportunities, passing this information on to the public and company stakeholders and participating in domestic greenhouse gas reporting actions.

PAS 2050 Carbon Footprint Verification

AVer computes products’ total greenhouse gas emissions throughout the product life cycle, from raw materials to production, distribution, use, and disposal after processing, in accordance with PAS 2050. At the same time, AVer looks for opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the process of product design, production and supply.

Eco-Design of Products (WEEE 2002/96/EC and ErP 2009/125/EC)

In addition to selecting components free of hazardous substances and adopting strict environmental control in its manufacturing, AVer takes further steps to realize the Eco-Design concept. We optimize our product design to meet the energy saving requirements stipulated in the ErP (Energy Related Products) directive, and to fulfill the collection and 3R (Reuse, Recycling, Recovery) requirements in the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive.

Future Work

AVer recognizes the industry’s trend of ever-broadening restriction on hazardous substances. A halogen-free project has been ongoing to eliminate the use of BFRs (Brominated Flame Retardants) and PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride). AVer also takes initiative in response to the global warming caused by the emission of greenhouse gases. We are actively putting in place an ISO 50001 energy management system, allowing us to improve energy efficiency, reduce costs, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, giving us a competitive advantage.

Social Contribution

AVer is innovate the way people communicate and enhance their learning. We strive to be a corporation dedicated to serving society, based on the concepts of being down-to-earth, creating value and devoting ourselves. To every employee of AVer, integrity in running business, devotion to creating value, protection of the earth, service to people and contribution to society are our important social responsibilities. We practice these core concepts through activities, such as education involvement programs, environmental protection, and various forms of charity works and donations. An internal volunteer service hour system is also established to encourage staff to assist people in need of care.

Education Involvement Programs

Education is one of the best solutions to end poverty. AVer endeavors to develop classroom technology solution that make learning more interesting and efficient. We host the Taiwan Innovative Teaching Contest in elementary and junior high schools periodically to inspire the creativity for improving teaching efficiency and fun. AVer visualizers (document cameras) are donated to elementary schools in remote areas to bridge the equipment gap of digitized teaching/learning. The company also encourages employees, as volunteers, to participate in after-school study programs for children from disadvantaged families and storytelling programs for school kids in remote areas.

Environmental Protection

AVer takes action to protect the environment. From design, procurement, manufacture to deliver, our products and processes are strictly controlled to meet the requirements of international environmental protection regulations. Inside AVer’s office building and manufacturing plant, we implement energy saving, carbon reduction and garbage classification schemes and promote them throughout the organization. Moreover, the company encourages staff members, and their families and friends to join us in participating in the annual “Clean up the World” campaign and ecology conservation activities. Believing that every great achievement originates from small steps and individuals, we work from our hearts and hope to arouse the general public’s attention to protect the environment.

Charity Works and Donations

AVer responds to the needs of general welfare and cares for the disadvantaged. The company organizes blood, book and clothing donation drives on a regular basis, and responds timely to calls for emergency relief and charity.