KUCHING: Malaysian financial institutions have a great role in galvanising Sarawak towards achieving its development vision of transforming into a sustainable green economy.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said while the government facilitates funding basic infrastructure projects, a lot of the initiatives require private sector take-up to boost and fast track the development growth.
With Malaysia’s six government linked investment companies (GLIC) collectively managing RM1.7 trillion of assets last year, he believed there is no shortage of capital in the country’s economy as all Malaysian banks are adequately capitalised.
Therefore, he encouraged the Malaysian banking industry to readily commit and embrace sustainability financing, which complements the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by coordinating financing, inculcating the elements of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG).
“Malaysian financial institutions should focus on providing green financing to help businesses become more sustainable.
“I am confident with support from the banks and financial institutions, these enterprises will be more agile and innovative to expand their businesses,” he said.
Most importantly, Abang Johari said, both the public and private sectors need to make the transition to ESG focused operations quickly as a study by a global bank in 2021 revealed that by 2025, 70 per cent of multinational corporations (MNCs) will remove suppliers that endanger their carbon transition plan.
“This is not limited to MNCs but I believe also applies to banks and other financial institutions throughout the globe,” he said.
He was speaking at the 5th Malaysian Banking and Finance Summit on “Sarawak’s Post Pandemic Economic Recovery – Growing Opportunities for Banks and Financial Institutions to Drive Sarawak’s Future Growth” at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur today (May 23).
In building the Sarawak economy and supporting the growth of the new economy, he said, financing is equally important to develop talent.
Thus, he suggested that banks and financial institutions work towards creating bursaries for education and human capital development in Sarawak.
Sarawak, he said, is a politically stable region, where its focus is to develop Sarawak with business friendly policies and continuously improve efficiency and enhance transparency through digitalisation.
“There are ample opportunities in the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 where investors, bankers and financial institutions can participate together to grow Sarawak’s economy.
“The massive development in Sarawak will require huge investment and financing. Hence, we welcome partnerships, investment and financing across the supply and value chains of all sectors of the economy.
Abang Johari assured that the Sarawak government has put in place robust policies and procedures to ensure integrity, transparency and good governance that will certainly improve the ease of doing business in Sarawak that are aligned to ESG principles.
