Higher integration of sustainable practices for Msian listed companies

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Bursa Malaysia recently launched its Business Sustainability Programme in line with its call to Malaysian public-listed companies to integrate sustainability elements into their business strategies.

Bursa Malaysia recently launched its Business Sustainability Programme in line with its call to Malaysian public-listed companies to integrate sustainability elements into their business strategies. Together with this, the country’s regulator also launched Powering Business Sustainability – A Guide for Directors, which aims to assist directors in understanding the value of good sustainability practices so that sustainability will become a boardroom agenda.Bursa Malaysia’s Chairman, Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Haji Abdullah said that as a frontline regulator, the Exchange recognised the importance of having a culture based on good corporate governance. He said:

Bursa Malaysia’s Business Sustainability Programme for Corporate Malaysia is an integral element in building a capital market of quality and integrity. We seek to encourage Malaysian companies to be more mindful of their business conduct vis-a-vis their multifarious stakeholders.

Bursa Malaysia’s Chairman, Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Haji Abdullah

In addition, Bursa Malaysia also introduced the Sustainability Knowledge Portal, an online reference that provides directors the latest and most comprehensive information on global sustainability frameworks, case studies, tax incentives and benefits, among others. Together with this, is the Business Sustainability Projects Matching Facility which seeks to facilitate collaborative partnerships and alliances between listed companies and other organisations.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak, who launched the programme, talked about how Malaysia focussed on economic growth in the past, and how it is good that we are focussing now on having a sustainable framework for sustainable growth and targets, combining financial objectives with societal and environmental growth.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak,

He said that he hoped the framework will encourage businesses to drawn in more foreign investment, especially from sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) funds, which in Europe now amount to USD7 trillion. Dato’ Seri Najib also added that the government hoped to reduce its carbon emissions by 40% by 2020.

Plenary sessions were also held after the launch, the first of which was on “Realising the Business Sustainability Agenda of the New Economic Model – the Role of Corporate Malaysia”. To the question of who should be the main driver of sustainability in a nation, Chairman of ICRM, Dato’ Johan Raslan, revealed that 71% of directors in the country believe the government should be the main driver, with a combination of carrot and stick. Considering how Malaysians are “slow on the take”, Johan was minded to agree with this consensus.

However, Johan later suggested that financial institutions and banks should also be drivers in sustainability, while Dato’ Voon Tin Yow, Executive Director/CEO of SP Setia, believes that consumers are the main drivers.

The second plenary session was on “Malaysia’s Sustainability Agenda – What are the ‘Must Haves’ to get there from the investors’ perspective” and included James Gifford, Executive Director of UN Principles of Responsible Investment, and Paul Hoff, FTSE Asia Pacific, among the panelists.