Strengthening Cooperation between the ASE and the UNDP to Support the Sustainable Development Goals

September 6, 2021

During the signing ceremony

The Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) signed a cooperation agreement with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where the agreement was signed by the CEO of the ASE Mazen Al-Wathaifi and the Resident Representative of the UNDP in Jordan Sarah Ferrer Olivella, in the presence of the Deputy CEO of the ASE Bassam Abu Abbas, in addition to a number a of ASE directors and UNDP team.

Under this agreement, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Jordan provides support and training to the employees of the Amman Stock Exchange and the listed companies to enhance their knowledge and awareness on issues related to the Sustainable Development Goals, which are based on three main axes, namely maintaining environmental protection, social development, and Corporate Governance (Environmental, Social and Governance) ESG.

The CEO of the ASE, Mazen Al-Wathaifi, said that the signing of the agreement comes within the framework of implementing the projects of the strategic plan of the ASE, including the project of implementing the companies listed in the ASE20 index for sustainability standards as part of its efforts to implement the latest international standards and practices in order to enhance the investment climate in the market and enhance the attractiveness of Jordanian companies for local investment. and external, identifying risks and opportunities that increasingly affect the success of companies by developing performance and improving competitiveness.

He added that the signing of the agreement comes within the framework of strengthening cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which started a while ago and established a strategic partnership between the two sides.

Moreover, the application of the principles of sustainability in listed companies will enhance the company's reputation, its brand and its contribution to the local community and will raise the level of satisfaction of the company's workforce and maintain the level of safety and general safety of the company's operational activities, which will positively reflect on its position in the market among competitors.

The ASE will raise awareness and knowledge of listed companies on issues related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by organizing workshops for listed companies with the aim of introducing the importance of these principles and standards and how to prepare their reports in preparation for their implementation by these companies.

Al-Wathaifi indicated that the ASE worked within this framework to raise awareness of the importance of sustainability in the Jordanian capital market by training ASE employees on how to prepare a sustainability report in order to spread awareness among listed companies of the importance of sustainability and its benefits and to all relevant parties.

The stock exchange also issued introductory publications on the concept of sustainability and issued a guide for listed companies on preparing sustainability reports in both Arabic and English, stressing that the ASE issued its first report on sustainability for the year 2021. He also referred to the most important recent developments at the regional level, which indicate on the stock exchange's interest in the issue of sustainability, including the launch of a new sustainability index, where Refinitiv and the Arab Federation of Exchanges (AFE) launched a selective index for the Refinitiv AFE Low Carbon Select Index in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. 

In this regard, the UNDP Jordan Resident Representative Sarah Ferrer Olivella said, “Our partnership builds on the important work that the Amman Stock Exchange has been doing in partnership with the UN Global Compact Network in Jordan and the Sustainable Stock Exchange initiative” 

Olivella added, “I  commend the Amman Stock Exchange for considering to introduce mandatory impact disclosures, this sends an important signal to the market and puts Jordan on the map of a growing number of global impact investors, a core ambition of UNDP’s flagship SDG Impact initiative.

It is worth noting that the Amman Stock Exchange joined in March of 2016 the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE), which was launched by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, with the aim of enhancing transparency and achieving the commitment of the listed companies to the issues of social and environmental responsibility and corporate governance (ESG).