OCBC partners Edra Solar in Malaysia’s first ASEAN sustainability SRI Sukuk

KUALA LUMPUR: OCBC Al-Amin Bank Bhd and Edra Solar Sdn Bhd have created a new benchmark in the Sukuk market by successfully pricing Malaysia’s first ASEAN Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) Sukuk of RM245 million on Sept 30, 2019.

OCBC Bank in a statement today said the partnership with Edra Solar as the Sukuk Sustainability Framework advisor would deliver for investors a long-term sustainable and viable investment opportunity with Malaysia’s first Solar Socio-Agricultural Sukuk.

OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd managing director Tan Ai Chin said OCBC’s role in sustainable and responsible financing has allowed the bank to work with clients to bring high quality and socially responsible Sukuk to investors.

“The success of Edra Solar’s Sustainability SRI Sukuk is a good example of how focusing on the sustainability agenda, which combines the social and environment factors as pillars to a project, allows project sponsors to derive the most optimal financing for their projects,” she said.

Edra Solar, the owner and operator of a 50 MWac solar power plant in Kedah, has allocated 16.19 hectares of the buffer zone surrounding the plant for farming of pineapple and other crops as a corporate social responsibility to the local community.

The hope is that the agriculture project, to be managed by Pertubuhan Peladang Kuala Ketil together with local farmers, will create both positive environmental and social effects that are also consistent with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Source: BERNAMA