China Construction Bank Corporation's Singapore Branch announced that it has signed a Statement of Intent with Gprnt to explore ESG data model interoperability, assessment framework normalisation, and product innovation to better deploy sustainable financing to corporate clients, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. This partnership marks a significant step in fostering international collaboration between CCB Group and Gprnt to promote sustainable finance, through technology and data, and facilitate the green transformation of SMEs in both countries. Gprnt is the culmination of MAS' Project Greenprint and offers an enhanced digital reporting solution for businesses by harnessing technologies such as data integration and artificial intelligence to simplify the way ESG data are originated, organised and utilised.

When fully implemented, Gprnt's reporting solution is expected to help companies automate their ESG reporting process, and allow end users (such as financial institutions, regulators and large corporates) to access relevant data and timely insights to support their sustainability-related decision making. The platform will also work with the wider ecosystem to support enhanced data access and product innovation by the ESG community. China Construction Bank Corporation is a leading commercial bank in China and globally.

Upholding the vision of becoming a globally leading bank in promoting sustainability, CCB has built a diversified service system encompassing green credit, green bonds, green funds, and green investments, thereby vigorously driving the transformation towards a green society. As sustainability concepts gain increasing prominence globally, companies are encountering novel challenges from compliance to financing and transition. For SMEs in particular, effectively measuring, managing and disclosing their ESG exposure to meet the calls from government bodies, business partners, and financial institutions has become a pressing issue.

This constitutes a set of real-world challenges as they strive to balance economic success with sustainability. Through the intended collaboration, both parties will leverage their respective strengths in the ESG technology, data and sustainable financing space to shed further clarity on the materiality and effectiveness of good quality, verifiable ESG data in informing financing decisions and product development to empower end users. In this process, CCB Singapore will also draw upon the broader CCB Group's inhouse resources and expertise in inclusive, green, and integrated financial services, as well as its experience in developing ESG evaluation models.

Together, the parties aim to explore and establish objective, quantifiable, and interoperable ESG assessment outcomes, which will assist SMEs in formulating, implementing and financing their targeted decarbonisation pathways. Ultimately, this collaboration will facilitate SMEs to access more tailored green financing services and unlock greater opportunities for sustainable development.