Johor: Johor Corporation (JCorp), the main development institution and a key economic enabler for Johor, has launched its first sustainable finance framework. This initiative is the inaugural framework of its kind by a Malaysian development institution with a diversified, multi-sector portfolio.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB) has been appointed as the exclusive sustainability structuring adviser for the framework. In a joint statement, JCorp and Maybank IB highlighted that in December 2025, MARC Solutions Sdn Bhd assigned a 'Gold' impact assessment to JCorp's framework through an independent second-party opinion, confirming its compliance with relevant local, regional, and global market guidelines.
JCorp and Maybank IB elaborated that the framework serves as a forward-looking stewardship tool for JCorp and its group of companies. This includes operating companies, subsidiaries, special purpose vehicles, and joint ventures, to raise and deploy sustainable finance across its five core business areas: wellness and healthcare, real estate and infrastructure, agribusiness, food and restaurants, and patient capital.
The statement emphasized that the framework aims to ensure alignment between existing and future sustainable projects and JCorp's overarching sustainability commitments. Reflecting JCorp's diversified portfolio, the framework encompasses a range of sustainability finance transactions (SFTs), including green, social, sustainability and sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) sukuk, bonds, loans, and financing, to support eligible investments that deliver measurable environmental and social benefits.
The SFTs are designed to support JCorp's commitment to balancing financial prudence with socio-environmental responsibility, in line with its Membina dan Membela mission. This mission leverages financial assets alongside its shared social and environmental heritage.
The framework aligns with prevailing market standards and outlines 10 eligible green and five eligible social use-of-proceeds categories. These include green buildings, cities and infrastructure, energy efficiency, pollution prevention and control, affordable housing, food security and sustainable food systems, and socioeconomic advancement and empowerment.
JCorp president and chief executive Datuk Syed Mohamed Syed Ibrahim stated that the framework reflects the corporation's long-term approach to capital allocation and responsibility. He emphasized that sustainability is embedded in how they allocate capital, govern risk, and steward assets, guiding their financing strategy in the Membina dan Membela mission to deliver measurable outcomes for Johor and Malaysia.
Maybank IB chief executive officer Michael Oh-Lau remarked that JCorp's sustainable finance framework brings rigour and credibility to financing sustainability initiatives, further amplifying the company's impact as an investor across multiple industries. Maybank has supported the JCorp Group in achieving sustainable debt market milestones, including KPJ Healthcare's sustainability sukuk and Johor Plantations' pioneering integrated sustainable finance framework. Maybank is committed to advancing its clients' transition to a more sustainable future, aligned with its ROAR30 strategies.
Maybank has set a target of mobilising RM300 billion in sustainable finance over the next five years, having already mobilised RM156.3 billion from 2021 to the end of the third quarter of 2025.