SUBANG: The natural resources and environmental sustainability agenda will continue without any significant disruption under newly-elected US president Donald Trump’s administration, says Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
He emphasised that the government would continue to be pragmatic in terms of governing and would focus on a multilateral approach in tackling climate change.
“Malaysia is an open trading country. Our two biggest trading partners are the United States and China, so I think we will continue to keep the doors open to everyone,” he told a press conference at the Small and Medium Enterprise Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Start Symposium 2025 here yesterday.“We cannot ignore the United States as it is a major economy and plays a big role in the world. Nonetheless, we have other trading partners and we will engage with them to ensure balanced trade and collaboration,” he said.
On the issue of free trade agreements (FTAs) with the European Union (EU), he said the prospects were positive for Malaysia.
“We know that the EU has very stringent requirements on sustainability, climate, environment and forestry. So, the fact that we are able to pursue and expand on this shows that the Malaysia economy is ready,” he pointed out.
On Jan 20, 2025, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the revival of the FTA negotiations with the EU.
FTAs are expected to boost exports in key sectors such as electrical and electronic products, palm oil and scientific equipment.They are also aimed at attracting EU investments in green energy and advanced manufacturing.
Meanwhile, Alliance Bank group strategy and transformation officer Aaron Sum said the bank is on track to achieving the target of raising RM500mil financing to SMEs for green projects.
In 2023, the bank had raised about RM200mil in green financing for SMEs.
As funds were found to be a continued concern for non-ESG SME adopters, Alliance Bank had launched its 3A approach namely advocacy, advice and answers in which it would provide the relevant banking and non-banking solutions.
“To date, we have exceeded RM12bil in new sustainable banking business and is on track to achieve the RM15bil goal ahead of time,” he said.
Alliance Bank, in collaboration with Monash University and Zurich Malaysia, launched the Alliance Bank ESG 2.0 Report at the SME ESG Start Symposium 2025.
According to the findings, ESG awareness among SMEs had increased by nearly sixfold, while ESG adoption had doubled.
The report noted that the manufacturing sector took the lead in ESG awareness and adoption followed by the services, construction and the agriculture sectors.
Source: The Star