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CYBERJAYA: The Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) is in talks with the Finance Ministry (MoF) to secure special funds to encourage digital companies to meet their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) commitments.
Chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz said MDEC is currently supporting ESG efforts by offering grants to companies with Malaysia Digital and Multimedia Super Corridor status.
“We do not have any specially allocated funds for ESG (programmes) at the moment, thus we are working with the MoF on this,” he said.
He was speaking after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between MDEC and the United Nations Global Compact Network Malaysia and Brunei (UNGCMYB).
ESG is a standard that companies must adhere to in fulfilling their corporate social responsibility and must be disclosed in the company’s annual report.
Compliance with ESG standards would raise listed companies’ profiles which would attract more investors, aside from being a guideline for conscientious investors in managing their investment portfolio.
On the MoU, Mahadhir said both parties will develop climate action guidelines and tool kits for digital economy businesses while promoting sustainability practices among technology organisations.
UNGCMYB executive director Faroze Nadar said the digital economy would be the core of global development and play an important role in ensuring sustainable development.
“Through the collaboration with MDEC, we hope to make Malaysia’s digital economy the catalyst for sustainable nation building while simultaneously achieving Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.
The two-year MoU was signed by MDEC (strategy and policy) senior vice-president Dr Sumitra Nair and Faroze, witnessed by Mahadhir.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2022/07/20/mdec-in-talks-with-mof-on-funds-to-support-esg-programmes