ACCA CROWNS SIME DARBY BHD AS OVERALL CHAMPION IN SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING

The ACCA MaSRA 2016 also named Maybank, Nets Printwork, Cenviro, Sunway, Axiata, Fuji Xerox and DiGi.com as winners.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 (Bernama) -- Home grown conglomerate, Sime Darby Bhd, was crowned the Best Overall Reporting champion of the ACCA Malaysia Sustainability Reporting Awards (ACCA MaSRA) for 2016. Their submitted report stood out above the rest to impress the judges with the organisation’s approach to innovation and clear demonstration of how sustainability was managed at senior management level.
 
Coming in as runner-up was Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), who also won the Best Workplace Practices Award for the transparent demonstration of their commitment to diversity, gender equality, employee development and retention of women in the workforce.
 
ACCA also awarded Cenviro Sdn Bhd and Nets Printwork Sdn Bhd the Best Sustainability Reporting Award under the Non-PLCs and SMEs categories respectively. In addition, Commendation Awards were won by Sunway Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (Malaysia Operations), and DiGi.Com Bhd.
 
President of the ACCA Malaysia Advisory Committee, Dato’ Dr Lukman Ibrahim, conveyed his congratulations, saying: “The winners of the ACCA MaSRA lead the way in demonstrating how sustainable business practices are an essential part of corporate risk management, and are ultimately crucial in determining a company’s investability quotient.
 
“ACCA has been encouraging conversations around sustainability reporting and corporate transparency since the 1990s because we strongly believe that sustainability should be at the heart of all businesses. Through the ACCA MaSRA programme, we’ve been able to observe an increasing number of companies in Malaysia demonstrate accountability and strategic drive that is at par with international practices. This experience has been rewarding, to say the least.”
 
The ACCA MaSRA was introduced in Malaysia in 2002, thereby making it the longest running awards programme in the country that aims to identify and recognise organisations that report and disclose full environmental, social and governance information.
 
This year, the judging criteria were aligned to incorporate Bursa Malaysia’s new listing requirements as provided in their Sustainability Framework, which now mandates public listed companies to publish a sustainability report with their annual statements. Amendments to the Listing Requirements take effect on a staggered basis over three years, starting from 31 December 2016 to 31 December 2018.
 
This development underscores the urgency for Malaysian companies to relook at their sustainability disclosure practices. In this context, the ACCA MaSRA initiative serves as a catalyst towards enhancing sustainability reporting in Malaysia.
 
Chief Regulatory Officer of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, Selvarany Rasiah, was appointed Chairperson of the ACCA MaSRA 2016 judging panel. Also, for the fourth consecutive year, the ACCA Awards was organised in partnership with Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp).
 
Sharing her insights as one of the judges, Shareen Shariza Dato‘ Abdul Ghani, CEO of TalentCorp said: “Over the years, we have seen more companies in Malaysia embracing sustainability, including diversity in the workplace, as a business imperative rather than a "nice to have". Sustainability equals good business. These companies, as reflected by the organisations participating in this year's ACCA MaSRA, stand out in the marketplace and the best of them are able to attract and develop a diverse pool of talent. I hope more Malaysian employers will follow these examples.”
 
The ACCA MaSRA 2016 received a total of 49 entries, out of which ten were new participants to the Awards. Beyond the primary judging criteria, judges also considered a set of overarching characteristics in deciding on the final winners. Characteristics such as commitment, innovation, knowledge management, circular economy, enterprise of the future and work practices are regarded to be essential elements that better identify organisations that are looking into the future.
 
More information on the judging criteria and about the ACCA MaSRA programme are available at accaglobal.com/MaSRA  
 
Winners of the ACCA MaSRA 2016
 
WINNER – BEST OVERALL REPORTING
Sime Darby Bhd
 
RUNNER UP – BEST OVERALL REPORTING
Malayan Banking Bhd
 
BEST WORKPLACE PRACTICES
Malayan Banking Bhd
 
BEST SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING FOR NON-PLCs
Cenviro Sdn Bhd
 
BEST SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING FOR SMES
Nets Printwork Sdn Bhd
 
COMMENDATION AWARD – COMMITMENT
Sunway Bhd
 
COMMENDATION AWARD – KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Sunway Bhd
 
COMMENDATION AWARD – INNOVATION
Axiata Group Bhd   

COMMENDATION AWARD – CIRCULAR ECONOMY                                   
Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (Malaysia Operations)
 
COMMENDATION AWARD – ENTERPRISE OF THE FUTURE                    
DiGi.Com Berhad

About the ACCA MaSRA
The ACCA MaSRA programme recognises best practices in sustainability reporting within Corporate Malaysia. Since its inception in 2002, these Awards have served as an important platform to create awareness on corporate environment and social responsibility and benefits of reporting to business.
 
The Awards, now in its thirteenth cycle, help underline the business case for sustainable practices and development. It is open to companies from any sector, have any type of business and any number of employees.
accaglobal.com/masra
 
About ACCA
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants with 188,000 members and 480,000 students in 178 countries worldwide. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.
 
We work through a network of 100 offices and centres and more than 7,400 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development.
 
www.accaglobal.com
 
Source : ACCA Malaysia 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name : Ms Berenice Then
Senior Manager, Public Relations
ACCA Malaysia
Tel : + (603) 2289 0117 / + (60)12 381 5589            
Email : berenice.then@accaglobal.com 

--BERNAMA

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