Introduction

Certain countries may score differently among specific ESG criteria. That was certainly the case in Singapore. The country with strong corporate governance rated relatively poorly in other ESG spheres. The government reacted in time, so those statistics did not significantly affect the companies listed in the country. By implementing the Enterprise Sustainability Programme, the government hopes to achieve similarly outstanding scores in all ESG benchmarks and at the same time become an example for other Asian developed economies.

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Development of ESG Values in Singapore

Singapore is another country on our list whose government decided to embrace the environmental, social, governance (ESG) values and encourage local companies to put more effort into complying with the motion familiar to most developed countries. Enterprises functioning in Singapore are pushed to “go green” as well as promote agendas such as social justice and long-term economic prosperity. Compared to the case study of the United States (US), Singapore is a much smaller country. Moreover, its government is a lot more centralized. For those reasons, it is safe to assume that the role of the Singaporean government will be even more crucial when implementing ESG principles.

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Singapore has been well known for its good quality corporate governance. However, the environmental and social factors are the areas where its companies have been struggling. Even though the country ranked among the top Asian countries when looking at the ESG implementation, the performance in environmental and social determinants has been lacking compared with other developed Asian economies. Such turn of events could be explained by the ownership structure among Singapore-listed companies. Those companies are mainly government-linked and family-owned. For that reason, the impact of institutional investors might not be as prominent as in a lot of Western economies. Relatively low scores in the environment and social categories could impact the overall image of Singapore companies.

The Enterprise Sustainability Programme

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Fortunately, the country’s government realized that and began introducing initiatives meant to increase companies’ results in those classifications. The Enterprise Sustainability Programme was announced in October 2021. The projected budget for this project is $180 million, which will be distributed among 6,000 companies in the next four years. As part of the initiative, companies will be provided with training workshops, project support, and additional financing. The focus is, of course, on the environmental and societal components, as the project will support companies that adopt green standards and develop innovative sustainable products and solutions. Moreover, private companies will be able to cooperate with various trade associations and chambers. Those vary depending on the industry and include, for example, the Singapore Furniture Industries Council and the Singapore Contractors Association. Companies that fully embrace the green values will be rewarded with a competitive edge over their rivals, improved reputation, higher sales, profitability, and more. In addition, the sustainable approach is predicted to create new job opportunities that will benefit all Singaporeans.

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It is essential to show that embracing sustainability in the corporate world provides win-win conditions for all participants. Manufacturers can work more efficiently and create less pollution. Customers who care about the environment have more options to pick from, and investors can allocate their funds to companies that decide to go green. The government providing such a brilliant initiative increases the competitiveness of Singaporean companies worldwide, which as a result, brings more foreign investment to the country.

Conclusions
 

To sum up, Singapore is in a great position when it comes to embracing the ESG values. The country has a long history of strong corporate governance, and with enough incentives from the government, its scores in the social and environmental categories can improve quickly. Most importantly, the nation has the resources needed to foster the growth of renewable energy, reduce carbon emissions, and improve in areas like labor standards and human capital.

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