Sustainability begins at home with knowledge and vision

Sharing experiences: (from left) Bilal, Chong, Tio, Kang and Choong sharing their views on sustainability in exports during the forum held at G Hotel Gurney in Penang.

GEORGE TOWN: Some 70 players from various industries recently attended a forum at G Hotel Gurney in conjunction with the Export Excellence Awards (EEA) 2023.

Themed Sustainability in Exports, the forum was on the growing global demand for sustainability products and services, with the lineup of experts speaking about their journey, including nurturing a culture of sustainability within their organisations.

Sharing his experience, PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd chief executive and managing director Datuk Seri Michael Tio said his company went through several transformations internally by implementing practices based on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework.

“What we did was to get our warehouse to be certified a green building, converted our normal forklifts to electronic ones and installed solar panels, among others,” he said, adding that he would encourage his employees to carpool as well.

EG Industries Bhd & SMT Technologies Sdn Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Alex Kang, however, had a different view when it came to incorporating sustainability in a company.

“I believe that the whole idea of sustainability is very simple – if your employee supports what the company is doing, then the employee will make those changes for the better,” he said.

Northeast Precision Sdn Bhd chief executive officer and managing director Chong Ewe Hean said training is important to create awareness.

“First, we need to train and equip our talent with the knowledge, vision and skills, as this will also enable us to compete with multinationals globally,” Chong said.

Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) Oil & Gas, Chemical and Energy Section deputy director Edison Choong, who moderated the forum, said with knowledge, employees will be driven to understand that sustainability is, in line with improvement and growth.

Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd executive director and Islamic corporate, commercial and institutional banking head Bilal Parvaiz said Standard Chartered Bank is committed to sustainable, social, and economic development through its business, operations, and financing activities.

“As such, companies looking to adopt sustainability in their business can look to Standard Chartered as it is important they know that financial institutions like ours can provide an ESG advisory on framework establishment and guidance, as well as extending sustainable financing to meet your sustainability objectives,” he said.

Choong, in his concluding remarks, said the forum had provided participants with invaluable knowledge that can be useful for everyone in practising sustainability.

“Action speaks louder than words – today’s session gives participants a flavour of (how they) can adapt, and is important we future-proof ourselves,” he said.

This fourth edition of the EEA is organised by Star Media Group in partnership with Standard Chartered, co-sponsored by PKT Logistics Group, and with Matrade as a patron.

The forum is part of the EEA Roadshow series and will continue in Johor soon, with more details to come.

Registration is free.