18 • MAPAN ESG SUMMIT 2026

@ green | July-August. 2026

� ESG requirements are increasingly filtering down from large corporations to the smaller businesses within their supply chains.

�Danny Ng says ESG certification can serve as a " passport " for companies seeking access to international markets and demonstrating regulatory compliance.

�DQS views certification as an ongoing process that helps companies identify areas for improvement rather than simply determining whether they pass or fail.

Danny Ng with his team

For DQS Malaysia country manager Danny Ng, this is creating a new role for certification and assessment bodies as businesses prepare for requirements that increasingly extend beyond their own operations.

" It ' s kind of a passport, especially for the organisation if they intend to do the export market," Ng said, describing ESG certification as an important tool for companies seeking access to international markets.

DQS, which originated in Germany in 1984, began operations in Malaysia in 2005. The company has since expanded its services beyond its original ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications to more than 200 certification products worldwide.

These include ESG and greenhouse gas verification, due diligence and social audits, and local programmes such as the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil( MSPO) scheme. DQS Malaysia is also an approved conformity assessment body for the Malaysia Medical Device Authority.

Ng said one of the more difficult areas for companies was carbon accounting, particularly Scope 3 emissions, which require businesses to trace activities across their upstream and downstream supply chains.

REACHING WIDE: Danny Ng handing over the Verification and Validation Letter of Statement to MAPAN patron Prof Tan Sri Dato ' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak and chairman Dr Ben Ong during the event.

MORE THAN A PIECE OF PAPER

While larger organisations are increasingly responding to regulatory requirements, Ng said MSMEs face a more complicated challenge because they form part of those companies ' supply chains.

" The most challenging here will be for those MSMEs," he said, pointing to efforts by the government to encourage simplified ESG reporting among smaller businesses.

He said MSMEs could not simply avoid ESG requirements when their customers were large corporations that needed supplier information to meet their own reporting and regulatory obligations.

International developments are also shaping this. Ng highlighted the European Union ' s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism as examples of requirements that could affect companies involved in international trade.

For DQS, this means its role goes beyond determining whether a company passes or fails an assessment. The company also served as the official verifier for the MAPAN ESG Industry & Academic

Summit 2026, issuing a Verification and Validation Letter of Statement as part of the process.

Ng explained: " Our main task here and objective is to collect the evidence that the organisation they have complied ".

GAPS ARE IDENTIFIED

Where gaps are identified, the company works with organisations to highlight areas for improvement, with certification treated as an ongoing process rather than a one-time exercise.

" Because the certification is not only for one time, it ' s a continuation," he said.

With about 60 offices worldwide, Ng said DQS can also help Malaysian businesses understand overseas market requirements while providing internationally recognised certification.

Ultimately, however, he said ESG adoption cannot rest solely with businesses. Consumers and individuals also have a role in influencing suppliers, retailers and companies through their purchasing choices and expectations.

" We also have to make demand to the supplier, to the supply chain or to the retailer, to comply with all these requirements ".

As ESG expectations continue to spread through global supply chains, Ng sees the challenge less as obtaining a certificate and more as helping businesses build systems that can adapt to changing requirements. – @ green