Thailand leads the region in corporate governance awards

Thailand’s listed companies were big winners at the annual ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) awards, achieving the highest overall average performance to take first place for the sixth consecutive year.

Thai companies bested among the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Thai performance is all the more impressive, considering Singapore’s global reputation for good governance.

The average score from 100 for Thai-listed companies was calculated at 96.60, followed by Malaysia at 94.99 and Singapore at 88.27. The Scorecard was developed and supervised by the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum.

The companies in Thailand that individually had the highest scores were Bangchak Corporation, state energy conglomerate PTT, and Thai Oil. All are energy firms.

Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol, Secretary-General of Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said Thai companies still have room for improvement, but their performance should make the Kingdom proud.

The first-place finish also represents just how far Thailand’s corporations have evolved. Following the global economic crises of 1997 and 2008, Thai firms took the opportunities to reform and raise their governance standards to be on par with those in many advanced economies.

It is an instrument for assessing and ranking publicly listed companies in six participating ASEAN countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

The Scorecard is based on the corporate governance principles of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Photo courtesy of http://www.thai-iod.com/en/projects-2-detail.asp?id=480