Three stock exchanges in Southeast Asia – Bursa Malaysia, Indonesia Stock Exchange, and Stock Exchange of Thailand – have teamed up to explore the establishment of an inter-regional environmental, social and governance-linked ecosystem to drive business value creation and advance sustainable development.

A memorandum of understanding signed by the bourse operators seeks to stimulate the adoption of ESG practices and drive responsible growth in their respective markets, while offering cross-border opportunities related to ESG investments across the three markets.

The collaboration also aims to identify commonalities within the Asean ESG ecosystem to facilitate cross-border trade, broaden business opportunities, and advance sustainable financing for corporations of all sizes and their supply chains in the region.

The exchanges said the MoU signifies a commitment to greening supply chains while acknowledging the potential to optimize the correlation of ESG data within the region.

As part of the scope of collaboration outlined in the MoU, the three exchanges will explore a range of initiatives, including identifying critical components of the ESG infrastructure to support companies in pursuing decarbonization and sustainability across their supply chains.

The parties will also establish a “sandbox” environment to facilitate trade and create new business opportunities for corporations and their supply chains, including small and medium enterprises.

They will also leverage expertise in ESG practices through workshops, training sessions, and knowledge-sharing programmes to enhance the ESG ecosystem.

The MoU builds on the recent commitment among Asean exchanges to standardize ten governance metrics for each Asean stock exchange to apply as guiding disclosure principles among respective listed companies.

“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,” says Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, chief executive officer of Bursa Malaysia. “This MoU establishes the groundwork for similar collaborations with other interested exchanges in Asia and lays a solid foundation for engaging partners from the Global North as well.”