Singapore-based OCBC Bank has announced a target to support 12,000 small and medium-sized enterprises with sustainable financing by 2028 across Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia the first dedicated SME sustainable finance target set by a bank in Asia.

As reported by OneStop ESG, the plan would more than double the 5,000 SMEs already supported by the end of 2025 and lift total SME sustainable finance commitments from nearly SGD 13 billion to SGD 25 billion within three years. In 2025 alone, the number of SMEs supported grew 34%, total sustainable finance commitments to SMEs rose approximately 40%, and sustainability-linked loans to SMEs more than doubled, with over 70% of those borrowers employing fewer than 25 people. The strongest sectoral growth came from building and construction, manufacturing, and transport and logistics.

The target is underpinned by a suite of practical support tools developed alongside the financing offer. OCBC's SME Start-ESG Programme in Singapore, developed with Enterprise Singapore in 2025, provides baseline sustainability assessments, expert advisory, and access to sustainability-linked loans. More than 180 SMEs had joined within 12 months, reaching 60% of its three-year target of 300 participants. The bank's SME Energy Efficiency Assessment tool, operational since 2021 and extended to Malaysia and Hong Kong in 2024, had been used by more than 1,200 SMEs across over 1,700 properties by the end of 2025.

SMEs account for more than 95% of enterprises across the region and approximately 70% of the workforce, making their capacity to transition critical to regional decarbonisation efforts. The scale of the new target reflects OCBC's view that demand for sustainability-linked financing among smaller businesses will deepen as supply chain partners, regulators, and lenders apply increasing pressure on emissions reduction.

Explore the full scope of OCBC's SME sustainable finance strategy in the full article.