Kuala Lumpur, 22 August 2022 – Hektar Real Estate Investment Trust (“Hektar REIT”) has been awarded “Company of the Year” under the “Stakeholder and Community Sustainability Engagement Initiatives” category of the Sustainability & CSR Malaysia Awards 2022 held today at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Kuala Lumpur.
This award follows the recent 4-star Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) rating upgrade received by Hektar REIT as a constituent of the FTSE4Good Bursa Malaysia Index (F4GBMI) in the June 2022 evaluation by FTSE Russell.
The Sustainability & CSR Malaysia Awards 2022, which was officiated by the Minister of Rural Development, YB Dato’ Seri Mahdzir bin Khalid, and represented by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Rural Development, YBhg Datuk Ramlan Harun is organised by CSR Malaysia, a publication and social initiative under the auspices of the Malaysian Welfare Society for Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility, which is the national organisation for sustainability in the country. Several nominations were received for the various categories, with awardees judged by a distinguished panel of judges drawn from the media and the Malaysian Welfare Society for Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility.
Chief Executive Officer of Hektar Asset Management Sdn. Bhd. (“Hektar Asset Management”), En. Johari Shukri bin Jamil said, “We would like to express our utmost appreciation and thank the panel of judges for this award and recognition of our efforts and see this as an encouragement to continue improving ourselves. Hektar REIT's Asset Under Management consists of five established neighbourhood-focused malls and one regional shopping mall, which play key roles in serving the various stakeholders - i.e., the shoppers, tenants, employees and surrounding community within their respective geographical areas.
During the pandemic, our shopping malls complied stringently with the Government‘s directives to provide a safe retail environment for all by upholding strict safety and hygiene protocols. CSR initiatives are close to our heart and we aim to continuously engage with the community by undertaking various initiatives for the underprivileged or vulnerable groups such as those affected by the pandemic as we at Hektar understand & believe that all of us owe a responsibility towards the betterment of our society.”
“Our recent ESG rating on the F4GBMI shows that Sustainability and CSR matters are very much grafted into our corporate culture. Our sustainability framework, which was first set up in 2017, continues to evolve in response not just to legislation but also to wider social and environmental concerns. We learned much, especially during the pandemic, on being resilient and sustainable while responding to the importance of reducing our environmental footprint and increasing our responsibility towards our stakeholders.”
