Norway’s US$1 trillion sovereign wealth fund is to demand that companies in which it invests follow stricter guidelines on global sustainability, including efforts to combat plastic pollution of the oceans, the fund’s manager said yesterday.
The fund’s ambitions as an investor significantly overlap with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to achieve sustainable economic, social and environmental development by 2030, it said in a statement.
“Our most important contribution is to strengthen governance, improve performance and promote sustainable business practices,” chief executive Yngve Slyngstad said in a statement.
“We invest in developing markets and in companies developing solutions for a more environmentally friendly economy. Finally, we divest from companies with unsustainable business models,” he added.
Among its demands, the fund is to require that companies better protect the oceans.
“We expect companies to manage the challenges and opportunities related to sustainable use of the ocean,” Slyngstad said.
“Examples of relevant sectors include ocean-based industries, such as shipping, wild-catch fisheries and aquaculture, but also retail, the value chain of plastic products and agricultural goods,” he said.
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is the world’s largest by asset value, holding stakes in more than 9,000 companies in 72 countries, in addition to a fixed-income portfolio and direct stakes in real estate.
Norges Bank Investment Management, a unit of the Norwegian central bank, also said it had appointed three outside advisers to strengthen its work on corporate governance issues.
In other news, Saudi Arabia is scrambling to boost the coffers of its Public Investment Fund (PIF) through a slew of non-oil investments — from risky high-tech start-ups to a new mega city.
The PIF, which aims to raise its assets from about US$230 billion to more than US$2 trillion by 2030, is aggressively pushing a host of big-ticket investments — from Uber Technologies Inc to the planned US$500 billion NEOM mega city on the Red Sea coast.
The fund has also invested in British tycoon Richard Branson’s space tourism company Virgin Galactic and pledged tens of billions of US dollars to funds run by Softbank Group Corp and Blackstone Group LP.
However, some analysts have voiced concern over the PIF’s “spend to grow” strategy as it pursues what are seen as flashy deals rather than long-term investments that deliver secure returns and generate jobs as unemployment soars.
“The PIF’s pattern of investment very much resembles that of a venture capital fund and that is concerning for a fund that will, by necessity, have to generate steady returns in the long run,” said Ellen Wald, author of the book Saudi Inc.
Since 2016, the PIF has made external investment commitments worth 360 billion riyals (US$95 billion), according to the IMF, including stakes in high-risk tech firms such as Tesla Inc.
“Investments in technology companies will not transform Saudi Arabia’s economy nor will they diversify the economy’s sources of revenue away from oil,” Wald said.
Additional reporting by AFP
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
TAKING STOCK: A Taiwanese cookware firm in Vietnam urged customers to assess inventory or place orders early so shipments can reach the US while tariffs are paused Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are exploring alternatives after the White House imposed a 46 percent import duty on Vietnamese goods, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’ trading partners. Lo Shih-liang (羅世良), chairman of Brico Industry Co (裕茂工業), a Taiwanese company that manufactures cast iron cookware and stove components in Vietnam, said that more than 40 percent of his business was tied to the US market, describing the constant US policy shifts as an emotional roller coaster. “I work during the day and stay up all night watching the news. I’ve been following US news until 3am
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
RSS