KUALA LUMPUR: The ASEAN Green Bond Standards (AGBS), launched on Wednesday, will provide a credible background to the debt issuance and attract more green bond investors to the region, said the ASEAN Capital Market Forum chairman Tan Sri Ranjit Ajit Singh.
The AGBS, developed based on the International Capital Market Association (ICMA)'s green bond principles, are tailored to meet the needs and commitment of Asean. The AGBS label is to be used only for issuers and projects in the region, and it specifically excludes fossil fuel-related projects.
Ranjit, who is also chairman of the Securities Commission, said currently, Malaysia, as well as the other countries in the region, were in the midst of reviewing a significant number of potential issuances.
“The majority of these will use green bond standards... potential for these will very much depend on the types of issuances and the amount of the Asean infrastructure financing,” he said on the sidelines of the ASEAN Capital Market Conference in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
He said the AGBS would be the benchmark for Asean debt issuers to develop green bond asset class as well as assisting in financing infrastructure.
The conference, themed "Strengthening ASEAN Capital Market Connectivity", was attended by 300 particpants from the region, representing issuers, investors, intermediaries, regulators and experts from Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the World Bank.
Collectively, the capital markets in Asean stood at US$3.6 trillion as at June 2017 and exchanges in ASean rank the nineth largest stock market in the world.
Asean attracted US$97 billion in foreign direct investments, of which 80% went to the services sector.
Global green bond issues hit a record US$32.2 billion (RM138.46 billion) for the second quarter of this year, bolstered by individual issuers. The market is set to rake in US$120 billion in total issuances for 2017. - Bernama
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