Muscat Stock Exchange establishes new department

A new department under the name of environmental, social and governance (ESG) and diversity and inclusion (DI) framework was announced by Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) on Sunday.

The exchange has also appointed Majida bint Sheikhan Al Mamari as the head of this initiative.

The setting up of this section comes under the exchange’s keenness to support good governance policies in the Sultanate as well as to keep pace with global best practices and to achieve sustainable growth in the capital market sector.

Speaking on this occasion, Mohammed bin Mahfoud Al Ardhi, Chairman of MSX board of directors (BoD), stated that the board has signified the importance of ESG and D&I in the strategic planning of Exchanges development.

Especially during the time where global sustainability initiatives and events such as COP26 have brought environmental sustainability and inclusive corporate policies to the forefront of global business practice.

He pointed out that, “ESG goes beyond standard corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures and takes into account a long-term sustainable view on environmental, social and governance issues. At MSX, we believe in sustainable business growth and ethical deployment of capital, which in turn reflects into increased investor confidence, and improved profitability.”

Al Ardhi further stated that this initiative comes under MSX’s dedicated efforts to improve market transparency in disclosures and include market participants in endeavours such as environmental and social governance.

“As today's investor is focused more than ever on sustainability factors in their investment decisions and the exchange is committed to harmonising the principles of investment with the investors' sustainability goals from a more diverse and inclusive platform,” he added.

MSX has adopted ESG as a best practice in line with the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) that are dedicated to promoting environmental and social responsibility among world investors.

According to UN PRI Standards, ESG in investments is evolving from a risk management practice to a driver of innovation and new opportunities that create long-term value to business and society, a journey MSX happily embarks upon with the promise to create a sustainable impact on its investment value chain.