ASEAN Exchanges Unite on ESG Data Infrastructure

Representatives from five Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) stock exchanges met in Kuala Lumpur in late November 2024 to advance plans for a unified regional ESG data infrastructure, marking the first of several ASEAN-Interconnected Sustainability Ecosystem (ASEAN-ISE) initiatives.

The project, led by Bursa Malaysia as secretariat, aims to standardize ESG data collection and reporting across Southeast Asian markets through a centralized platform. This infrastructure is intended to enhance ASEAN's position as a sustainable investment destination and align with global green transition priorities, fostering deeper market integration across Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.

Encouraging sustainable finance through harmonization of standards and reporting was a key topic of the 25th Anniversary meeting of the OECD-Asia Roundtable on Corporate Governance held in Manila on December 11-12, 2024. Valoris’s Mike Lubrano moderated the Roundtable session on institutional investor engagement, which highlighted the importance of quality, comparable ESG reporting for effective investor stewardship.