This regional partnership aims to identify commonalities in the ASEAN ESG ecosystem to facilitate cross-border trade, expand business opportunities, and also advance sustainable financing.
Heaptalk, Jakarta — Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), Bursa Malaysia Berhad (Bursa Malaysia), and Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) signed a partnership agreement to explore the establishment of an inter-regional environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ecosystem. This commitment is intended to drive business value creation and sustainable development across ASEAN.
Representatives of the three exchanges, spanning President Director of IDX Iman Rachman, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, and President of SET Pakorn Peetathawatchai signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the sidelines of the 36th ASEAN Exchanges CEOs Meeting hosted by SET in Bangkok.
This regional partnership aims to identify commonalities in the ASEAN ESG ecosystem to facilitate cross-border trade, expand business opportunities, and advance sustainable financing for companies of all sizes and their supply chains in the region.
According to IDX President Director Iman Rachman, this MoU reflects a shared vision of creating a sustainable future for the three capital markets. “We believe that collaboration is a key in driving positive change in the region. We look forward to work closely with Bursa Malaysia and SET in developing innovative solutions that benefit our stakeholders, and contribute to the development of resilient and responsible companies,” Iman said.
Building a “sandbox” environment
Bursa Malaysia CEO Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift stated, “We are pleased to formalize this collaboration with SET and IDX. Through this partnership, we aim to enhance cross-border cooperation and seize opportunities to harmonize ESG measures and ESG infrastructure that promotes sustainable business practices in ASEAN.” He added that the agreement forms the basis for similar collaboration with other interested exchanges in Asia and provides a strong basis for involving partners from Northern countries.
Meanwhile, SET President Pakorn Peetathawatchai conveyed his party’s commitment to promoting ESG practices in the Thai capital market. “This collaboration with Bursa Malaysia and IDX allows us to co-create an interconnected ESG ecosystem, supports an integration of ASEAN markets as an asset class to attract international investors, as well as provides opportunities for knowledge-sharing, enabling us to leverage each other’s strengths to create a more sustainable future for our markets,” he said.
In more detail, the three exchanges will explore multiple initiatives, one of which is identifying critical components of ESG infrastructure to support companies in pursuing decarbonization and sustainability across their supply chains.
In addition, the three entities will build a “sandbox” environment to facilitate trade and create new business opportunities for companies and their supply chains, including small and medium enterprises. IDX, Bursa Malaysia, and SET will also leverage expertise in ESG practices through workshops, training sessions, and knowledge-sharing programs to support improvements to the ESG ecosystem.
