Associate Professor Dr Nafis Alam of Henley Business School at the University of Reading Malaysia, recently participated as a panellist in the Asia Sustainability Reporting Summit (ASRS) 2017.
The event, held in Singapore from 19th – 20th September, was the first regional conference in Asia primarily dedicated to sustainability reporting dialogue. The Summit provided a strong platform for the reporting community to discuss new trends, techniques, common challenges and solutions in sustainability landscape. The two day summit was primarily focussed on what investors expect from sustainability reporting by businesses, what corporations and governments across Asia are doing to adopt sustainable business practices and how to report on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dr Alam spoke about how Islamic/ethical principles are driving the sustainability reporting landscape and what the emerging trends are in the Islamic Reporting Initiative in the session on “Sustainability Reporting trends in Asia”. In the discussion Dr Alam was joined by fellow panellists from NUS Business School, the Deputy Secretary General of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and South Asia Director of GRI.
In another session on “Responsible Investors”, Dr Alam provided his insights on how Shariah compliant funds provide an avenue for responsible investors. The session was moderated by the Managing Director of Asia Research & Engagement, Benjamin McCarron and included panellists from Morgan Stanley Capital international (MSCI), WWF Singapore and DBS Bank.
More than 50 leading sustainability speakers also participated in the summit, including Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Chairman Christy Wood, GRI’s South Asia Director Aditi Haldar, StarHub CEO Tan Tong Hai and Sweden’s Ambassador to Singapore H.E. Håkan Jevrell.
The event which was organised by CSRWorks, a leading name in sustainability strategy and reporting and a data partner and Gold Community member of the Global Reporting Initiative. Delegates of the event came various nations including Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Hong Kong and the USA among others.
