OJK Said Indonesia And China The Leading Countries In A Sustainable Financial System

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Services Authority (OJK), Wimboh Santoso, said that Indonesia and China are the first movers/mature countries in implementing sustainable finance.

According to him, this will continue to be improved to be able to enter the next stage, namely mainstreaming behavior changes or habituation of overall attitude changes.

"As the only G20 member country from the Southeast Asian Region, Indonesia is expected to strengthen its leadership position in the Region and become a bridge for the collective voices of the countries that are members of ASEAN, especially for the implementation of sustainable finance", he said in the webinar on Sustainable Finance in National Economic Recovery on Tuesday, June 15.

Wimboh added, to achieve commitment and implementation of sustainable finance, a change in mindset is needed that environmental and social risk factors are both opportunities and challenges for the financial services sector.

"So we must be able to find a solution to be able to create innovative financing and at the same time make the transition from business as usual to a business sustainability approach", he said.

Furthermore, Wimboh said that the role of OJK is very important and strategic to accelerate the implementation of sustainable finance, in line with efforts to maintain economic and financial stability from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Therefore, collaborations that are both domestic and global need to continue to be built by the future direction that has been established by the global community, including the World Bank, IMF, and OECD", he explained.

So, he continued, if the overall strategy and collaboration in question have been carried out optimally, then all investments made will fully adopt green investment.

"Later every decision taken will pay attention to environmental, social, and governance aspects", he said.

For information, OJK is known to have issued various regulations to support the implementation of sustainable finance which is realized in the form of distributing green portfolios to banks of around IDR 809.75 trillion.

In addition, the authorities also granted permission for the issuance of PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur green bonds amounting to IDR 500 billion, as well as increasing the value of the SRI-Kehati index so that currently it has managed funds of IDR 2.5 trillion.

"We are optimistic that through good coordination in the formulation of policies and regulations, as well as cooperation and high commitment from all relevant parties, sustainable finance in Indonesia will be implemented optimally", concluded Wimboh.