suhaimi ali : leading the change - empowering small businesses to tackle climate change opening remarks by mr suhaimi ali, assistant governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the greening value chain ( gvc ) programme rollout, kuala lumpur, 7 march 2023. * * * assalamu'alaikum and a very good morning to distinguished guests. let me begin by congratulating kossan rubber industries berhad and pantas sdn. bhd. for the timely rollout of the greening value chain programme. it is no doubt that climate change is accelerating. dangerous weather events are becoming more frequent and extreme, and global co2 emissions are starting to rise as economies pick up speed post - pandemic. as we gather here today, floods caused by heavy rainfall have been reported across several states in malaysia. with the climate crisis upon us at such a pace, accelerating our actions in responding to climate risk becomes all the more urgent and necessary. ladies and gentlemen, we are on the edge of a climate precipice, close to reaching a 1. 5c tipping point, beyond which the damage to our environment would be irreversible. the increasing frequency of natural disasters also provides a grim teaser of what lies ahead if we do nothing. recognising this urgency, more than 70 countries have set net zero greenhouse gas ( ghg ) emissions targets1, and more and more businesses are also making commitments to reach net zero ghg emissions by mid - century. based on projections, climate inaction would cost the global economy usd 178 trillion over the next 50 years2. it is evident that businesses must transition to be sustainable to keep pace with the global race towards net zero. as an exporting nation, malaysia must also prepare for tightening of climate - related regulations that may be imposed by our trading partners. small and medium enterprises ( smes ) that form 37. 4 % of malaysia's economy3 are the most susceptible. according to report findings by the sustainable finance institute asia 2022, smes stand to lose rm292 billion in revenue due to non - esg compliance4. the silver lining behind these adversities is the immense growth opportunities. studies have shown that sustainability investments reward businesses through higher premiums 5, better brand value, and lower operating expenses6. without the necessary support, the ambition to achieve net zero would be a tall order for smes, which

and held engagement sessions to raise awareness of current as well as emerging risks and trends, common modus operandi, and str reporting standards among reporting institutions. i also wish to thank ssm for their continued support in organising aml / cft trainings through comtrac3 for company secretaries and undertaking joint aml / cft supervisions with bnm. second is deploying technological solutions. the sheer volume and scale of information that we are dealing with warrants more advanced technological solutions. detection and pattern analysis can be improved by leveraging big data analytics and machine learning. there is also room for enhancing transparency, traceability, and accountability in financial transactions. at bnm, we are undertaking similar journeys. our aml / cft supervisors and financial intelligence analysts continue to improve riskbased supervision and analysis through the adoption of digitalisation and data science. to illustrate, our fiu adopted machine learning to rank strs according to risk profile and developed a network analysis tool to establish linkages of criminals across different databases. these technologies have enabled more effective analysis, thus contributing to the increase of high - impact investigations. the final of these is bolstering our legal, regulatory and supervisory regime. laws and standards must be updated to keep up with evolving risks. both of our preventive and enforcement measures rest on these pillars, and it is essential that such measures are continuously reviewed for efficacy, in addition to alignment with international standards. in this spirit, bnm is undertaking policy reviews relating to areas of critical and contemporary concerns. these include the assessment and mitigation of proliferation financing risk, targeted financial sanctions, and the application of aml / cft requirements at the group level for dnfbps. additionally, the definition of " beneficial owner " will be streamlined with revised international standards. the national coordination committee to counter money laundering ( ncc ) is also updating the risk assessments of legal persons and legal arrangements4, with a focus on vulnerabilities associated with beneficial ownership and foreign - created entities. 4 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches this year marks the 19th anniversary of company secretaries being included in reporting obligations under the anti - money laundering, anti - terrorism financing and proceeds of unlawful activities act 2001 ( amla ). at the beginning of this journey, bnm, as the competent authority under the amla, focused on raising awareness to improve the aml / cft compliance culture within the dnfbp sectors. this has since been followed by