Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Chairman, Bursa Malaysia, Dr Veerinderjeet Singh, President of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) and The Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), En Ahmad Zahirudin Abdul Rahim, Chairman, NACRA 2020 Adjudication Committee, NACRA Participants, Committee Members and Adjudicators, Distinguished Guests, Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen

1. Welcome to the 2020 National Annual Corporate Report Awards Virtual Announcement of Winners!
2. On behalf of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) and The Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) – the joint organisers for NACRA 2020, we thank you for joining us today.
3. NACRA was originally initiated in 1990 to recognise and honour Malaysian companies that have demonstrated exemplary corporate reporting in terms of content, form and design. It is also to recognise the hard work and dedication of the people involved in the process.
4. Having charted thirty years of history, NACRA continues to be a critical initiative for advocating excellence in corporate reporting in Malaysia. Although there are many channels for information in today’s digital world, an annual report remains relevant as a powerful and widely accepted medium to communicate a company’s performance, activities, strategies and prospects to key stakeholders, and as a benchmark for comparison for investors.
5. In line with NACRA’s evergreen theme, “Towards Accountability & Excellence”, NACRA advocates for continuous improvement in the quality of annual reports.
6. Every year, the guidelines are reviewed and enhanced to ensure that the standards and quality of the production of annual reports are in line with current requirements and the latest global developments. Earlier this year, we introduced a new framework for NACRA 2020, which integrates elements of sustainability and integrated reporting in line with evolving expectations.
7. Ladies and gentlemen, we the organisers have also had to adapt and adjust in response to the unprecedented COVID’19 pandemic. The Movement Control Order (MCO) came into effect following our launch in early March, and we have since taken steps to manage the impacts arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and new social distancing norms, given the restrictions imposed by the MCO.
8. One, the submission deadline was extended from 29 May 2020 to 15 July 2020, in parallel with the extension of time granted by Bursa Malaysia on the filing of annual reports with financial year-ends of 31 December 2019 to 30 June 2020.
9. Two, cancellation of the NACRA 2020 Awards Presentation Dinner due to the practice of social distancing and prohibitions on mass gatherings as announced by the Government.
10. Three, revision of the participation fees in light of the cancellation of the Awards Presentation Dinner.
11. We hope that these concessions and revisions were helpful to our participants and stakeholders in these turbulent times. Going forward, we will do our best to assist our stakeholders and participants to ensure continuing participation in NACRA, towards enhancing the quality of corporate reporting.
12. Before I end, I would like to thank my fellow members on the NACRA Organising Committee, the Adjudication Committee and Secretariat staff for their time and effort in organising this virtual event. I would also like to say a big thank you to all the organisations who participated in this year’s NACRA.
13. Good luck and best wishes to all the contenders! Thank you!