OCBC Al-Amin Bank Berhad (OCBC Al-Amin) has won the coveted Special Award for Sustainable Energy Financing (Islamic Financing) at the National Energy Awards (NEA) 2021.

NEA, initiated in 2018 by the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, recognises the proponents of energy efficient technology and renewable energy who play a vital role in driving Malaysia’s sustainable development agenda forward.

OCBC Al-Amin Chief Executive Officer Tuan Syed Abdull Aziz Syed Kechik received the award from Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Malaysia YB Datuk Seri Takiyuddin bin Hassan at a ceremony held at the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur recently.

According to Tuan Syed Abdull Aziz, the award is testament to OCBC Al-Amin’s relentless effort to provide outstanding green and renewable energy project financing solutions to its corporate customers, a sustainable financing posture that is aligned to that of the OCBC Group.

“OCBC Al-Amin has emerged as a market leader in renewable energy financing, particularly for large scale solar and rooftop solar projects, thanks to a journey that started to accelerate from 2015 onwards with the dawn of the Paris Agreement and the establishment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). In addition to contributing to the country’s sustainability agenda, our initiatives are consistent with UN SDG #6 – to increase access to affordable and clean energy.

“We are pleased to receive this award in recognition of our drive to achieve the highest standards of sustainable financing. The theme of our initiative was OCBC’s Sustainable Financing Journey, which details how we as a financial institution have responded to ever-evolving ESG considerations to ensure that our business remains resilient and value-accretive for our stakeholders. We will continue fruitfully in the journey ahead,” he said.

OCBC Al-Amin Chief Executive Officer Tuan Syed Abdull Aziz Syed Kechik (right) receiving the award from the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Malaysia, YB Datuk Seri Takiyuddin bin Hassan (left) at a ceremony held at the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur recently

The OCBC Group has set a target of achieving a S$25 billion Sustainable Financing portfolio by 2025 (or ‘25-by-25’).

“We will seek to ride on the positive momentum gained to ensure we grow our sustainability-linked financing capabilities even further. We’re delighted that the OCBC Group’s continuous and ongoing effort to embed sustainability as part and parcel of our core business model has been recognised by the Ministry of Energy & Natural Resources. We will build upon the success of this award and continue to do our part in furthering the ESG agenda, in line with Malaysia’s Net Zero ambitions by the year 2050. The route to sustainability is a journey, and this achievement tells us we are indeed on the right track,” Tuan Syed Abdull Aziz added.

Following through from the successful issuance of the first ASEAN Sustainability SRI Sukuk in Malaysia for Edra Solar in 2019, OCBC Malaysia has deepened its position in the Malaysian sustainable finance sector through the successful execution of multiple sustainable and sustainability-linked financing mandates for corporate and governmentlinked entities.

OCBC Al-Amin is also poised to strengthen its Value Based Intermediation (VBI) to an altogether new level with more sustainability- linked and green financing projects slated for this year.

VBI is an industry-driven sustainability initiative aimed at strengthening the roles of Islamic banking institutions in generating a positive and sustainable impact on the economy, community and environment. “We will ensure that VBI is plugged in in most of our efforts this year as it will be the crux of our long-term growth strategy within the established responsible financing framework,” said Tuan Syed Abdull Aziz.