The HCM Stock Exchange on Tuesday introduced the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards and encouraged companies to use this reporting framework to strengthen their credibility, as well as contribute to promoting the green capital market.

The launch of the Vietnamese version of this sustainability reporting framework was held by the HCM Stock Exchange, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) organisation and Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Launched on October 19 last year by GRI, this is the first global standard for sustainability reporting which provides non-financial information disclosure and provides greater transparency about companies’ impact on the economy, environment and society.

About 92 per cent of the world’s largest 250 corporations report on their sustainability performance.

Nguyen The Tuan, deputy director of the HCM Stock Exchange’s Research and Development, said the new sustainability reporting scheme is important to enhance capital investment, being an effective tool to measure corporate strategy and contribution to sustainable development.

“Using this reporting, enterprises will promote their credibility and trust to investors and the community, develop their brand and contribute to the growth of the green capital market,” Tuan said.

He said though reporting sustainable performance is widely used among companies in the world, this framework is still relatively new to the Vietnamese business community.

Circular No 155/TT-BTC, issued on October 6, 2015, is considered the first legal document requiring disclosure on sustainable development of listed companies, demonstrating Viet Nam’s commitment to participate in the global value chain.

Asthildur Hjaltadottir, GRI’s service director, said the reporting tool will allow Vietnamese enterprises to familiarise themselves with sustainability reporting, which she said was currently incoherent. The new reporting framework also meets investors’ demand for an integrated and widely accepted standards, according to the director.

The Vietnamese version of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards is available on the GRI’s website. A version for small- and medium-sized enterprises will be introduced by the end of this year.

In an effort to promote a green capital market, the HCM Stock Exchange will debut the VN Sustainability Index (VNSI) this July to evaluate the sustainability performance of companies listed on the Viet Nam’s stock market.

Businesses with the highest scores in environmental, social and governance-related performance will be listed on VNSI. — VNS