15 June 2023
Alliance Bank and SEDANIA Launch Fully-Funded Energy Saving Programme for SMEs
Press Release
Kuala Lumpur, 15 June 2023 - Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad (“Alliance Bank” or the “Bank”) announced today that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SEDANIA Innovator Berhad’s (“SEDANIA”) Sustainable Energy arm SEDANIA Technologies Sdn Bhd to launch a fully-funded programme to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) become energy sustainable organisations.
Under the MOU, SEDANIA as an environmental, social and governance (ESG) enabler will bear the cost of initial outlays and provide advice to eligible Alliance Bank and Alliance Islamic Bank SME customers on office or building upgrades which includes energy efficient smart air-conditioning, smart controllers and lighting solutions.
According to the SEDANIA Sustainable Energy for SMEs Plan 2023, these initiatives are expected to help bring down energy consumption of eligible businesses by 25% to 40%. As part of the programme, only a portion of the cost savings enjoyed will be paid to SEDANIA over a 5-year period. During this time, SEDANIA will also provide free maintenance and repair services as well as complimentary energy monitoring systems which will enable SME clients to monitor its energy consumption and provide the necessary data for its sustainability reporting. Additionally, through the Energy Performance Contract (EPC), Alliance Bank and Alliance Islamic Bank SME customers will also receive a certified report card on its energy efficiency level without any payment.
“This innovative programme is a first-of-its-kind initiative with the potential to reduce energy consumption by 20% and help circumvent 25 million tons of carbon emissions in Malaysia per year. This is in line with the Bank’s ACCELER8 2027, a 4-year strategy plan that outlines 8 growth pillars which also focuses on driving solid ESG progress among the Bank’s stakeholders and contribute positively towards building a more sustainable community and world for future generations. Under this strategy, we are building a sustainable ecosystem through partnerships with industry leaders of ESG policymakers, certification bodies (UNGC, MGTC, Bursa) and companies providing green products and services - to offer support to SMEs through a “3A” approach (Advocacy, Advice and Answers) – which recommends a suite of financial and non-financial ESG solutions to help SMEs successfully adopt sustainable practices in their businesses,” said Raymond Chui Keng Leng, Group Chief SME & Commercial Banking Officer of Alliance Bank.
“By partnering with SEDANIA, we can take the lead within the banking industry as an ESG enabler, allowing us to better serve our SME customers by providing fast, convenient and personalised solutions that meet their growing financing and ESG-compliance needs,” Chui added.
Daniel Rupert, CEO of SEDANIA Innovator Berhad said, “SMEs in Malaysia contribute around [70%] of all carbon emissions. At the same time, SMEs are most reluctant to adopt ESG practices due to cost. As an ESG enabler driven to reduce the carbon footprint, this required us to innovate a new programme which makes it easy for companies to say ‘yes’. In this programme, the SME gets cost reductions and new office equipment with costs borne by SEDANIA, the Bank has a new value-added service offer which goes beyond conventional banking services, and the environment has less carbon emissions. Everybody wins. The programme will show that ESG compliance can be achieved with tangible benefits and without extra costs.” On 12 June 2023, it was announced that SEDANIA Technologies Sdn Bhd was recognised as the best Energy Efficiency company, having won Gold at the ESG Positive Impact Awards.
Ruppert added, “This recognition speaks highly of the skills and accomplishments of SEDANIA Technologies Sdn Bhd in advancing Malaysia's efforts to embrace greater sustainability and lower carbon emissions. With this accolade in hand, we are in an even more strategic position to effectively enable the green transformation of SMEs via this program in collaboration with Alliance Bank.”
Alliance Bank and Alliance Islamic Bank SME customers can apply for this programme online at https://bizsmartsolution.alliancebank.com.my/ESG4SME. The entire programme will be executed paperless.
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Under the MOU, SEDANIA as an environmental, social and governance (ESG) enabler will bear the cost of initial outlays and provide advice to eligible Alliance Bank and Alliance Islamic Bank SME customers on office or building upgrades which includes energy efficient smart air-conditioning, smart controllers and lighting solutions.
According to the SEDANIA Sustainable Energy for SMEs Plan 2023, these initiatives are expected to help bring down energy consumption of eligible businesses by 25% to 40%. As part of the programme, only a portion of the cost savings enjoyed will be paid to SEDANIA over a 5-year period. During this time, SEDANIA will also provide free maintenance and repair services as well as complimentary energy monitoring systems which will enable SME clients to monitor its energy consumption and provide the necessary data for its sustainability reporting. Additionally, through the Energy Performance Contract (EPC), Alliance Bank and Alliance Islamic Bank SME customers will also receive a certified report card on its energy efficiency level without any payment.
“This innovative programme is a first-of-its-kind initiative with the potential to reduce energy consumption by 20% and help circumvent 25 million tons of carbon emissions in Malaysia per year. This is in line with the Bank’s ACCELER8 2027, a 4-year strategy plan that outlines 8 growth pillars which also focuses on driving solid ESG progress among the Bank’s stakeholders and contribute positively towards building a more sustainable community and world for future generations. Under this strategy, we are building a sustainable ecosystem through partnerships with industry leaders of ESG policymakers, certification bodies (UNGC, MGTC, Bursa) and companies providing green products and services - to offer support to SMEs through a “3A” approach (Advocacy, Advice and Answers) – which recommends a suite of financial and non-financial ESG solutions to help SMEs successfully adopt sustainable practices in their businesses,” said Raymond Chui Keng Leng, Group Chief SME & Commercial Banking Officer of Alliance Bank.
“By partnering with SEDANIA, we can take the lead within the banking industry as an ESG enabler, allowing us to better serve our SME customers by providing fast, convenient and personalised solutions that meet their growing financing and ESG-compliance needs,” Chui added.
Daniel Rupert, CEO of SEDANIA Innovator Berhad said, “SMEs in Malaysia contribute around [70%] of all carbon emissions. At the same time, SMEs are most reluctant to adopt ESG practices due to cost. As an ESG enabler driven to reduce the carbon footprint, this required us to innovate a new programme which makes it easy for companies to say ‘yes’. In this programme, the SME gets cost reductions and new office equipment with costs borne by SEDANIA, the Bank has a new value-added service offer which goes beyond conventional banking services, and the environment has less carbon emissions. Everybody wins. The programme will show that ESG compliance can be achieved with tangible benefits and without extra costs.” On 12 June 2023, it was announced that SEDANIA Technologies Sdn Bhd was recognised as the best Energy Efficiency company, having won Gold at the ESG Positive Impact Awards.
Ruppert added, “This recognition speaks highly of the skills and accomplishments of SEDANIA Technologies Sdn Bhd in advancing Malaysia's efforts to embrace greater sustainability and lower carbon emissions. With this accolade in hand, we are in an even more strategic position to effectively enable the green transformation of SMEs via this program in collaboration with Alliance Bank.”
Alliance Bank and Alliance Islamic Bank SME customers can apply for this programme online at https://bizsmartsolution.alliancebank.com.my/ESG4SME. The entire programme will be executed paperless.
(From L-R) Rizal IL-Ehzan bin Fadil Azim, Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Islamic Bank, Raymond Chui Keng Leng, Group Chief SME & Commercial Banking Officer of Alliance Bank and Daniel Ruppert, CEO of Sedania Innovator Berhad at the MoU signing.
(From L-R) Raymond Chui Keng Leng, Group Chief SME & Commercial Banking Officer of Alliance Bank, Rizal IL-Ehzan bin Fadil Azim, Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Islamic Bank and Daniel Ruppert, CEO of Sedania Innovator Berhad at the MoU signing.
