The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) announces the 2021 Thailand Sustainability Investment (THSI) list which contains 146 listed companies, up from 124 in the previous year. This shows that Thai listed companies are committed to embracing sustainability principle into their business operation in order to reduce risks, boost business potential even in trouble times of COVID-19 pandemic.
SET President Pakorn Peetathawatchai said that despite the enormous challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic with severe effects on economic growth and social development, most of Thai listed companies can successfully overcome those obstacles because of their strong fundamentals by adapting and in particular applying sustainability strategy to their enterprise-wide management. They are equipped with good risk management practices, sustainability-driven innovations to increase competitiveness, while taking good care of the stakeholders, communities and society.
“SET promotes sustainable development in the capital market for the benefit of all parties in accordance with the vision ‘To Make the Capital Market Work for Everyone’. Therefore, we encourage businesses to practice corporate governance and take into consideration the stakeholder engagement in all aspects. Moreover, we also encourage investors to invest responsibly to gain opportunities for long-term returns. Consequently, investor appetite for ESG stocks increases. In August 2021, there were as many as 58 ESG funds with assets under management (AUM) worth THB 57.5 billion (approx. USD 1.7 billion), a whopping 96 percent rise from early this year. This has significantly pushed businesses to quickly accelerate their sustainable operations and disclose more ESG information to investors,” Pakorn said.
Listed companies in the 2021 THSI list clearly show that their crisis management covers how to cope with the pandemic. They rethink new normal factors such as digital transformation, and the changing consumer behaviors, among others, as emerging risks and can adapt accordingly while gearing up for future challenges. Simultaneously, they value their employees’ health and safety to maintain their business continuity and operational efficiency. They also reach out to the society and stakeholders inclusive of customers and business partners so that all can move forward together. Moreover, listed companies show outstanding development in terms of environment aspect, especially by setting quantitative goals and disclosing data & information concerning greenhouse gas emissions reduction to play a part in the climate change issue for Thailand to become a low carbon society.
The total of 146 companies in THSI list consists of 134 companies listed on SET and 12 on mai. The industry group with the highest number of companies in THSI is Property & Construction (25 firms), followed by Services (24 firms) and Resources (23 firms). As of September 30, 2021, companies in THSI list had the market value of THB 12.48 trillion, representing 66 percent of the combined SET and mai market capitalization.
The THSI list is based on the selection from the listed companies that responded to sustainability assessment questionnaires with 17 categories of indicators covering economic (including corporate governance), social and environmental dimensions, as well as indicators according to ESG industry materiality, totaling 12 categories such as water-related risk, product responsibility, responsible finance, digital inclusion. These indicators are in line with the issues that interest worldwide investors and can be solved with the help from the business sector to improve social and environmental conditions.
The listed companies selected to the THSI list must score at least 50% in each dimension and meet the qualifications specified by SET with the Sustainable Investment Committee conducting to ensure transparency throughout the process. The THSI list is used as a criterion to select constituents of the SETTHSI Index, aiming to promote sustainable stocks that take the environment, society and corporate governance aspects into consideration. SETTHSI is reviewed biannually.
For more information about sustainable stocks, please visit www.setsustainability.com .
