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Nestlé Malaysia Berhad won top accolade at ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Malaysia)'s annual awards for Sustainability Reporting.

The ACCA Malaysia Sustainability Reporting Awards 2011 - ACCA MaSRA 2011 - also recognised five other organisations for the reporting of environmental, social and wider economic impacts of their activities at a ceremony held at the InterContinental Kuala Lumpur.

The aim of the Awards is to identify and reward innovative attempts to communicate corporate sustainability performance and to reward transparency.

In his speech at the Awards, Mr Devanesan Evanson, President of ACCA Malaysia Advisory Committee, said "Commitment to sustainable business practices must begin from the top and should be a key consideration discussed at the Board level, and integrated into the company's business strategy. The benefits of sustainability reporting to businesses and to their stakeholders are clear. The quality of sustainability reporting will lead to better management and brand protection, greater market share, improved employee retention and bottom line. Sustainability reporting provides confidence, clarity and certainty. But there is much to be done and new developments are clearly racing onto the horizon, especially in the shape of integrated reporting."

The keynote address, Leading Change in Society Moving CSR to Corporate Citizenship, delivered by Lord Michael Hastings, KPMG Internationals Global Head of Citizenship and Diversity discussed how Corporate Citizenship can be a key driving factor to help build our businesses, drive a leadership culture and help develop the communities we live and operate within

Mohamed Raslan Abdul Rahman, Managing Partner, KPMG in Malaysia, said "At KPMG in Malaysia, we have a clear vision of the role we play in society. We believe we should use our skills and our resources to become fully involved in finding sustainable solutions to local and global issues such as climate change, food and water scarcity, poverty, security, development and economic growth. Locally, our people are using their skills to support local community initiatives and projects.  Globally, we are using our capacity and capability as an international network to support the Millennium Development Goals, working strategically with governments, non-government organizations and the private sector to make an impact."

Peter R. Vogt, Managing Director, Nestlé Malaysia Berhad, said "At Nestlé, we use Sustainability Reporting to communicate to stakeholders the progress of our Creating Shared Value strategy, which is to create value simultaneously for society and our shareholders while carrying out our business activities. It is a fundamental part of the Nestlé way of doing business. In this process, we focus on three core areas where we can create value for society, namely Nutrition & Health, Water & Environment as well as Rural Development. The GRI reporting guidelines have helped us better track and measure our sustainability KPIs as well as identify gaps that need to be closed."

Through the nine years of the ACCA MaSRA, the overall quality of sustainability report has improved year on year. Among the leaders in sustainability reporting, there continues to be significant improvements but the rest of the field are catching up, and new leaders are emerging. The judges have noted a small increase in stand-alone sustainability reports, and a significant jump in the number of reports that are being assured, lending more credibility to these reports.

Jennifer Lopez, head of ACCA Malaysia, said "In our view, each company that participates in ACCA MaSRA is a winner. Participation demonstrates a company's commitment to communicating sustainability performance. Participation in the ACCA MaSRA should set a benchmark for companies to improve their respective sustainability reporting. The ACCA MaSRA judges have seen great improvements in the quality of sustainability reporting in Malaysia - a testament to companies continuous learning processes. Next year, the ACCA MaSRA will celebrate its tenth anniversary. We continue to be committed to the values of this worldwide initiative to identify and reward innovative attempts to communicate sustainability performance. In the coming months, we welcome companies to engage with the ACCA to get a better understanding of sustainability disclosure in preparation for the next ACCA MaSRA."

ACCA champions the extension of corporate reporting to include the social and environmental aspects of a business. It has introduced Sustainability Reporting awards throughout the world, recognising those who put particular emphasis on their own contribution to society and wider economic issues.

Late last month, ACCA launched its ten new Global Forums. The ACCA Global Forums are aimed to further the thinking on current and future issues in a number of specific technical subject areas, as well as the accountancy and finance profession more widely. It includes a Global Forum for Sustainability - which aims to continue ACCA's long history of promoting transparency and accountability on sustainability issues, and the role of the professional accountant.

The full list of awards and commendations for ACCA MaSRA 2011

Overall Winner - Best Sustainability Report
Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad

Winner - Reporting on Environmental Performance
UEM Environment Sdn Bhd

Winner - Reporting on Social Performance
Telekom Malaysia Berhad

Winner - Reporting in An Annual Report
British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Berhad

Winner - Best First Time Reporter
Maybank

Commendation - Strategy and Governance
Maybank

Commendation - Stakeholders Engagement and Inclusion
Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad

Commendation - Assurance
UEM Environment Sdn Bhd

Commendation - Integrated Reporting
Puncak Niaga Holdings Berhad

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