Alliance Bank Sustainability Assistance Programme (SAP) Qorus Reinvention Awards - APAC - Winner

The Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad (“Alliance Bank” or the “Bank”) Sustainability Assistance Programme (SAP) is developed to support the Bank’s sustainability purpose which is to help business owners adopt ESG practices. The programme is built using the 3As approach which is to drive Advocacy by raising awareness, provide practical Advice, and provide Answers via fast, simplified and relevant banking and non-banking solutions. Alliance Bank actively drives positive change through this programme by providing Malaysian businesses with the necessary support and resources to adopt sustainable practices whether it be advisory services, solution providers, training or even knowledge resources. The objectives for the programme centre upon increasing profitability and achieving cost efficiencies, thus improving the global competitiveness of Malaysian businesses. This programme is also supported by the Bank’s long-term key partners such as Bursa Malaysia (“Bursa” – Malaysia’s capital market regulator), Malaysia Green Technology Corporation (“MGTC” – Malaysia’s government-linked agency driving national policies for green economic growth), and United Nations Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei (UNGCMYB – official local network of UNGC). The 3As strategy in detail are as follows: 1. Advocacy: To create awareness of the importance of sustainability among our customers, employees, partners and our community ecosystem. The bank has built thought leadership through affirmative action with the publication of its inaugural “ESG Insights from Malaysian SMEs: Building a Better Future Together” report which looks closely at the state of ESG among local businesses. The report obtained real feedback from Malaysian businesses and provides insights on the local business segment ESG adoption challenges, opportunities, wishlist, etc whilst raising awareness on the importance of adopting sustainable practices for the benefit of business resilience and growth. In addition to the report, the Bank has participated in national, state and ESG conferences along with our partners and gave talks, participated in forums and panel session as well as set up exhibitor booths. This enables the bank to embed the program into the ecosystem of the national and private agenda driving carbon reduction and raising sustainability advocacy. 2. Advice: Developed an exclusive diagnostic tool called PRO-GRESS with UNGCMYB so SMEs can obtain an assessment of their sustainability status and generate a Climate Action plan for improvement. The tool is offered free of charge to the Bank’s customers or are part of the sustainable supply chain programmes offered by the Bank’s key partners. Alliance Bank is also one of only three banks who were selected as early adopters in the capital market regular, Bursa’s, Centralised Sustainability Intelligence Platform which was developed in collaboration with the London Stock Exchange Group. It enables sustainability disclosures by listed companies and suppliers in their respective supply chains. At the same time, the Bank also brought onboard its corporate partner Mah Sing Group Berhad where their supply chain partners can access the Bank’s advisory and green tech solutions which are offered at preferential rates, in order to encourage their adoption of ESG practices which has tangible financial benefits. Additionally, ABMB also signed an MoU with Bursa to work with them on their #financing4ESG program that enables the bank to work with listed companies in improving their FTSE4Good index rating which is a series of benchmark and tradable indexes for ESG investors. 3. Answers: The Bank’s SAP also provides banking and non-banking solutions that meet the market’s needs for green financing and capital to enable transition towards sustainability for the industry. Our MoU with MGTC enables us to recommend a full range of green tech solutions certified with the MYHIJAU mark which is the national green recognition scheme endorsed by the Malaysian government. This not only assures quality of the product but also enables additional tax incentives based on the Green Investment Tax Exemption (GITE) program. Additionally, Alliance Bank offers green financing and sustainability linked loans with preferential rates to accelerate the implementation of green alternatives such as renewable energy, waste management, circular economy, digitization, energy efficiency, electric mobility and other green solutions. The SAP also helps businesses clients with promotion and market outreach of their sustainability improvements through the bank's digital and social media channels, e-marketplaces, and trade events.