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PERMODALAN Nasional Bhd will adoptthe Asean Green Bond Standards tofinance the construction of the iconicWarisan Merdeka tower in Kuala Lumpur.This comes as green investment schemesstart to gain traction in the capital market.

SUSTAINABLEFINANCING

A scalemodel of the

WarisanMerdekaproject.

A scalemodel of the

WarisanMerdekaproject.

09 Nov 2017New Straits Times, Malaysia

AYISY YUSOFKUALA LUMPURbt@me diaprima.com.my

ASEAN CAPITAL MARKETS FORUM

Securities Commission chairman Tan Sri Ranjit Ajit Singh (fourth from right) at the launch of the Asean Green Bond Standard on thesidelines of the Asean Capital Market Conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. PIC BY OWEE AH CHUN

PNB UNIT FIRST TO ISSUE AGBF BONDS

PERMODALAN NasionalBhd (PNB) will adopt theAsean Green Bond Stan-dard (AGBS), which was

launched yesterday in conjunc-tion with the Asean Capital Mar-kets Forum (ACMF).

PNB’s wholly owned subsidiary,PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn Bhd,will be the first issuer in the re-gion to adopt AGBS to financethe construction of the WarisanMerdeka Tower.

Securities Commission (SC)chairman Tan Sri Ranjit AjitSingh said green financing andinvestment schemes was gainingstrong traction and would catal-yse momentum in the capitalm a rke t s .

“Asean must grow in a respon-sible and sustainable manner.Growth cannot come at the ex-pense of our future generations.

“We need to support efforts toprotect the environment, and theAGBS will help in the allocation ofresources towards more climate-friendly investments,” he said af-ter launching the inauguralACMF here yesterday.

Ranjit said it was important forcountries to focus on sustainablefinancing and recognising the im-portance of sustainable and re-sponsible investments.

“In Malaysia, SC has put for-ward a framework for sustainableand responsible investments(SRI). We have done this through

Asean capital markets have responsibility to support sustainable growth, says SC chairman

facilitating the growth of sukuksegments, such as the SRI sukukframework, for the developmentof the SRI framework.”

He said Malaysia tied in IslamicFinance with the Asian SRI fundsm a rke t .

“It is important to build on thatmomentum. We think sustain-able finances are important tocreate an ecosystem,” he said.

Ranjit said Asean launched theAGBS to develop a green bondasset class, helping to financelarge infrastructure financingand ensuring this extends tomore sustainable initiatives.

On the recent 2018 Budget, he

s a i d i t w a s i n c l u s i v e a n daddressed the people’s needs.

“I t’s pragmatic as it focuses ondeveloping long-term potentialfor the country’s competitive-ness in terms of education, skillsdevelopment and digital markettechnolog y,” he said, adding thatthese aspects were important be-cause it would help investorsgauge Malaysia’s attractivenessas an investment destination.

“It is also a responsible budgetas fiscal discipline is being main-taine d,” said Ranjit.

“On the bond market, Malaysiais a very large player, and we con-tinue to find ways to enable bet-

ter access to the bond markets egment.

“The AGBS is designed to be abenchmark — dependent on thetypes of issuances that come in.The overall amount of infrastruc-ture financing that the country orthe region has got to go throughis significant,” he said.

International Capital MarketAssociation (ICMA) chief execu-tive Martin Scheck said it wel-comed the alignment of AGBSwith the Green Bond Principle(GBP), which recommends trans-parency and disclosure to pro-mote integrity in the green bondm a rke t .

AGBS was developed based onI C M A’s GBP, and is tailored tomeet the needs and commit-ments of Asean countries.

The AGBS label is used only forissuers and projects in theregion, but it specifically ex-cludes any fossil fuel-related pro-je cts.

The Warisan Merdeka develop-ment is comprised of three phas-es, and will include the iconicMerdeka PNB118 Tower and a re-tail mall. It is expected to costRM7 billion.

Out of the RM7 billion, the firstpha se’s gross development valuestands at RM5 billion.

09 Nov 2017New Straits Times, Malaysia

PNB unit plans to raise RM2bil for tower project PETALING JAYA: Permodalan Nasional Bhd's (PNB) unit has proposed a sukuk pro-gramme to raise up to RM2bil to fund the construction of its Merdeka PNB118 tower project in Kuala Lumpur.

In a statement, the largest state-owned fund manager in Malaysia said its whol-ly-owned subsidiary PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn Bhd (PNBMV) was planning to issue a 15-year tenure secured green sukuk, known as Merdeka Asean Green SRI Sukuk Programme, to fund the 83-storey office space, which would form part of the Merdeka PNB118 Tower project.

"The Merdeka Asean Green SRI Sukuk Programme will be an early adopter of the Asean Green Bond Standards launched by the Securities Commission (SC) and will comply with the requirements of the Sustainable Responsible Investment (SRI) Sukuk under the SC's Guidelines on Unlisted Capital Market Products under the Lodge and Launch Framework" PNB said.

MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd would be the principal adviser and lead arranger for the Merdeka Asean Green SRI Sukuk Programme.

Located within the Warisan Merdeka devel-opment, the Merdeka PNB118 is scheduled for completion in 2020. It is set to tower above the Petronas Twin Towers, making it the tallest building in South-East Asia and the fifth tall-est in the world.

09 Nov 2017The Star, Malaysia

\am Permodalan Was I o rial Berhad

Asset manager to issue RM2b green sukuk for office tower project KUALA LUMPUR: Government-owned asset manager Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) is looking to raise RM2 billion via a green sukuk programme to fund its 83-storey office tower project.

The 15-year tenure secured unrated green sukuk, called Merdeka Asean Green SRI Sukuk Programme, will comply with the Sustainable Responsible Investment (SRI) sukuk requirements and adopt the newly launched Asean Green Bond Standards, PNB said in a statement.

The office tower located within the city is targeted for completion in 2020.

MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd is the principal adviser and lead arranger for the sukuk issuance.

The financing facility is the third, and largest yet, green sukuk to be issued in Malaysia. Edra Power Holdings Sdn Bhd's Tadau Energy issued RM250 million in July while Quantum Solar Park Malaysia Sdn Bhd issued a RMi billion green in October.

The Asean Capital Markets Forum, made of capital market regulators from the 10 Asean countries, launched the Asean Green Bond Standards yesterday. The standards are formed based on the International Capital Market Association's Green Bond Principles.

09 Nov 2017The Sun, Malaysia

PNB Merdeka pengamal awal sukuk hijau KUALA LUMPUR - PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn. Bhd. (PNB Merdeka), anak syarikat milik penuh Permodalan Nasional Bhd. (PNB) bakal menjadi pengamal awal Piawaian Sukuk Hijau ASEAN bagi membiayai pembinaan projek me-nara Merdeka PNB118 di di Jalan Stadium di sini.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutifnya, Tengku Datuk Ab. Aziz Mahmud berkata, syarikat bercadang untuk menerbitkan sukuk hijau bercagar ber-tempoh 15 tahun menerusi Program Sukuk tan-pa penarafan sehingga RM2 bilion, yang dikenali sebagai Program Sukuk Hijau Merdeka ASEAN SRI.

Menurutnya, ia bertujuan untuk membiayai pembinaan ruang pejabat 83 tingkat yang menja-di sebahagian daripada projek menara Merdeka PNB118.

"Kami gembira PNB Merdeka akan menjadi pengamal awal di Malaysia untuk menerbitkan Program Sukuk Hijau Merdeka ASEAN SRI, sekali gus menunjukkan komitmen PNB untuk membangunkan Warisan Merdeka sebagai pro-jek yang mapan dan mesra alam," katanya dalam kenyataan yang dikeluarkan di sini semalam.

09 Nov 2017Kosmo, Malaysia

D PNB muncul pengawal terawal Piawaian Sukuk Hijau ASEAN Oleh ZUNAIDAH ZAINON ekonomi@utusan.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR 8 Nov. - PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn. Berhad (PNBMV) muncul pengamal awal Piawaian Sukuk Hijau ASEAN bagi membiayai pembinaan pro-jek menara Merdeka PNB118 di presint berprestij Warisan Merde-ka di Jalan Stadium di sini.

Anak syarikat milik penuh Per-modalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) itu mengusulkan terbitan sukuk hijau bercagar bertempoh 15 ta-hun menerusi Program Sukuk tanpa penarafan sehingga RM2 bilion yang dikenali sebagai Pro-gram Sukuk Hijau Merdeka ASE-AN SRI.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutifnya PNBMV, Datuk Tengku Ab. Aziz Tengku Mahmud berkata, ter-bitan sukuk itu bagi membiayai pembinaan ruang pejabat 83 tingkat yang menjadi sebahagian daripada projek menara Merdeka PNB118.

Katanya, setelah siap dibina, Merdeka PNB118 akan menjadi

dapat menyokong usaha badan kawal selia dalam menyediakan platform pelaburan kepada para pelabur yang ingin memperun-tukkan modal bagi membiayai projek yang bersifat mapan dan mesra alam.

"Pembangunan Warisan Mer-deka telah mengambil langkah-langkah wajar untuk memastikan dasar dan amalan terbaik yang mampan diguna pakai untuk ope-rasi dan pembinaan bangunan, sejajar dengan piawaian global," katanya dalam kenyataan selepas majlis pelancaran di Suruhanjaya Sekuriti (SC) di sini hari ini.

Program Sukuk Hijau Merdeka ASEAN SRI bakal menjadi penga-mal awal Piawaian Bon Hijau ASEAN yang dilancarkan oleh SC dan mematuhi garis panduan Sukuk Pelaburan Mapan dan Ber-tanggungjawab (SRI) di bawah seliaan SC untuk Produk Pasaran Modal Tidak Tersenarai di bawah Rangka Kerja Kemuka dan Lan-car.

MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Berhad adalah penasihat dan

pengatur utama untuk Program Sukuk Hijau Merdeka ASEAN SRI.

Menjelang 2020, Merdeka PNB118 akan menjadi bangunan pencakar langit Kuala Lumpur menggantikan Menara Berkem-bar Petronas dan sekali gus men-jadikannya bangunan tertinggi di Asia Tenggara dan kelima terting-gi di dunia.

Sementara itu, wakil Kumpu-lan Bank Dunia ke Malaysia, Faris Hadad-Zervos berkata, pener-bitan sukuk hijau pertama oleh syarikat pelaburan milik kerajaan (GLIC) menandakan kemasukan sukuk hijau ke dalam pasaran utama sukuk.

"Hakikat bahawa ia membi-ayai pembinaan bangunan hijau menunjukkan sukuk hijau ini bukan sekadar tentang tenaga yang diperbaharui, tetapi men-cakupi pelbagai projek mesra alam.

"Kumpulan Bank Dunia akan terus menjadi rakan usaha sama Malaysia dalam membangunkan pendekatan inovatif ke arah ke-wangan mapan," katanya.

bangunan pertama di Malaysia yang menepati tiga akreditasi platinum bangunan hijau tempa-tan dan antarabangsa, iaitu Green Building Index (GBI), Green Real Estate (GreenRE) dan Leadership

in Energy and Environmental De-sign (LEED).

"Kami gembira PNBMV akan menjadi pengamal awal di Malay-sia untuk menerbitkan Program Sukuk Hijau Merdeka ASEAN SRI

yang sekali gus menunjukkan komitmen PNB untuk memba-ngunkan Warisan Merdeka seba-gai projek yang mapan dan mesra alam.

"Ini secara tidak langsung

ACMF inecH'

09 Nov 2017Utusan Malaysia, Malaysia