AFMGM: ANWAR TO LAUNCH ASEAN SEDG GUIDE FOR SMES TODAY

By Siti Baaqiah Mamat

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to deliver the keynote address and officiate the launch of the ASEAN Simplified Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Disclosure Guide for SMEs in Supply Chains Version 1 today (ASEAN SEDG).

The event is held in conjunction with the ASEAN Investment Conference 2025: Panel Discussion and Exhibition, a sidelines event on the second day of the 12th ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (AFMGM) and related meetings at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC).

The guide is significant as it consolidates and simplifies the many complex global and local ESG-related frameworks to improve the availability of ESG data and information from SMEs.

Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, will chair the Investors’ Breakfast Roundtable on “Aligning ASEAN's Growth Agenda with Global Investment Trends”, which will be attended by Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.

Separately, Khazanah’s panel session, “Panel Discussion: Nation That Creates Through Catalysing Ecosystems”, will feature Amir Hamzah as a speaker. 

He will also participate in the ASEAN Investment Conference 2025 Ministerial Dialogue, alongside Singapore’s Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat, and Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Finance Thomas Djiwandono.

Amir Hamzah will later officiate the ASEAN Investment Challenge and the launch of Fractional Shares Trading, and deliver a welcoming address at the Khazanah-organised panel.

Fractional shares trading is aimed at making share trading on Bursa Malaysia more accessible, affordable and inclusive for retail investors, especially young investors.

Today’s programme also includes a Trilateral Meeting between China, Japan and South Korea, scheduled for 7.30 am. This marks the second meeting between the three countries, following an earlier trade ministers’ meeting in March in Seoul.

At the Seoul meeting, China, Japan and South Korea agreed to continue trilateral economic and trade cooperation to address ‘emerging challenges’—a partnership now seen as more critical than ever following the imposition of debilitating US tariffs, including on these countries, which has triggered a global trade war.

The three countries also agreed to accelerate negotiations on a free trade agreement, though tangible progress has yet to materialise.

Senior officials from Southeast Asia, China, Japan and South Korea—collectively known as ASEAN+3—will also meet at the AFMGM.

The ASEAN+3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting (AFCDM+3), co-chaired by Treasury Secretary-General Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican and Bank Negara Malaysia Deputy Governor Marzunisham Omar, will also be held today.

Later in the evening, the Ministry of Finance will host a welcoming dinner at 8 pm.

Over the four days, 14 meetings are scheduled, including high-level discussions with the ASEAN-US Business Council, ASEAN-European Union, and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

More than 300 delegates, including ASEAN finance ministers, central bank governors, international financial institutions, and private sector representatives, are expected to attend the AFMGM, the investment conference and the exhibition.

-- BERNAMA