Maybank Investment Bank CEO Datuk Fad’l Mohamed said the country still needs to have clear standards and principles to encourage greater product innovation in Malaysia. – Photo by Yusof Mat Isa
Wednesday, June 22, 2022 2:37 PM MYT
KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 – Transitional financing or labeled bonds and loans are expected to gain strength in the coming years amid a growing number of companies pledged to achieve sustainable goals, Maybank Investment Bank said.
Maybank Investment Bank CEO Datuk Fad’l Mohamed said financing for the transition is a relatively new addition to the set of sustainable financing instruments to help companies deliver long-term strategies to meet their commitments. of zero net carbon.
He said the potential investments that fell under the transition bonds compared to the green bonds are much larger, as the former includes industries that are not easily agreed upon but are taking steps to decarbonise.
“So in this case, for example, the shipping company Seaspan Corporation has raised about $ 750 million in transition bonds this year and the result was channeled into exploring the energy efficiency of its ships with alternative fuels.” said Sustainable and Responsible Investment. (SRI) Virtual Conference 2022 entitled “Preserving the climate through sustainable business and life” today.
However, he said the country still needs to have clear standards and principles to encourage greater product innovation in Malaysia.
“Our issuers will need to gain more confidence to enter the market, especially for products such as bonds linked to sustainability,” he said.
He said standards that take into account the local context would be critical to help make sustainable finance more inclusive and innovative.
Fad’l said relevant guidelines are still being developed in the domestic sphere.
“Currently, many jurisdictions are actively seeking to develop country-specific taxonomies on sustainable finance, which in turn has created a large number of taxonomies,” he said.
Therefore, he said that the harmonization of the taxonomy is very essential to encourage greater market penetration.
He said the world is also beginning to see efforts to map selection guidelines and criteria for regions such as China and the European Union.
“We applaud the efforts of regulators and parties involved in the development of the ASEAN taxonomy launched last November and look forward to further contributing to that development,” he said.
World Bank (Malaysia) Senior Financial Sector Specialist Rozani Osman said a possible shortage of skilled workers also needs to be addressed to support the development of the sustainable agenda.
Citing a study by the world’s largest professional networking website Linkedln, he said the demand for green jobs currently coincides with the supply of people with related skills, but the projection indicates that demand will exceed supply in the world. next five years.
“Most jobs that require these types of skills are not the traditional green arms, but other regular jobs that needed knowledge or skills to incorporate green elements or SRI into the job,” he said.
Therefore, he said that understanding the sustainable elements, regardless of the work environment, is crucial to achieving the zero net goals of companies. “Bernama.”
