(From left) Sarena Cheah, Sunway Group executive director; Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah, Sunway Group founder and chairman; Ng Wei Wei, UOB Malaysia chief executive officer. (Picture courtesy of UOB Malaysia)

KUALA LUMPUR (June 8): Sunway Bhd plans to work with UOB Malaysia Bhd to achieve their shared mission to achieve net zero carbon emission by 2050 by leveraging on each other’s strengths and expertise to integrate sustainable financing solutions, infrastructure and technologies into various business divisions across Sunway’s ecosystems.

The two parties have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for that purpose, with Sunway Group executive director Sarena Cheah inking the agreement for the developer, while UOB Malaysia country head of corporate banking and wholesale banking Anita Tang represented the bank.

According to a joint media release from the parties on Thursday (June 8), the collaboration will include joint capacity-building programmes and workshops to facilitate and to scale sustainability initiatives for tenants, lessees and suppliers by providing sustainability financing solutions to jumpstart investments into more sustainable infrastructure, as well as to address Scope 3 emissions — which refer to all indirect emissions that occur in the upstream and downstream activities of an organisation.

In addition, research on developments and most recent sustainability practices will also be shared between the two brands and applied where relevant, the statement read.

Deliverables under the MOU will be rolled out in the next few years. To kick-start their sustainability journey, Sunway’s partners, tenants and suppliers will be able to leverage UOB Malaysia’s online sustainability tool in the coming months, to map out their actionable plans, the statement added.

“This MOU is a significant step forward for both Sunway and UOB Malaysia in our shared journey towards a low-carbon future. Our two-decade long partnership is testament to the role private sector players can play to advance the sustainability agenda together,” said Cheah.

“Today’s collaboration signifies the power of unity and the collaborative spirit that is required to make the change to a low-carbon economy. We are proud to bring our sustainable financing solutions, frameworks and expertise into this partnership to support Sunway’s diversified businesses and its ecosystem partners in their decarbonisation journey,” said UOB Malaysia chief executive officer Ng Wei Wei.

Sunway has, since 2015, embraced the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It is also the first corporation in Malaysia and among the first in Asia to introduce a carbon reduction strategy into its businesses.

UOB, meanwhile, has developed comprehensive and market-leading sustainable finance frameworks and solutions to help companies across Asean decarbonise and transition to net zero.

“UOB is honoured to partner Sunway, a like-minded organisation, to drive our net zero ambitions together. Today’s collaboration signifies the power of unity and the collaborative spirit that is required to make the change to a low-carbon economy. We are proud to bring our sustainable financing solutions, frameworks and expertise into this partnership to support Sunway’s diversified businesses and its ecosystem partners in their decarbonisation journey,” said Ng.

Sunway shares closed unchanged at RM1.55 on Thursday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM7.75 billion.

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