2004	2003	2002	2001
			Website Review

2004

2004 has been the year that sustainability has gone mainstream in Asia. There has been an explosion of conferences and we have received numerous research requests on topics ranging from SRI investment performance to standards for corporate performance and sustainable venture capital. We've met this demand with talks in virtually all the major markets in the region, and with new research and expanded facilities on our website including a new section, SRI Guide in English and Chinese to support public interest in SRI.

By the time of ASrIA's third International Conference in Singapore in July 2004, a consensus was forming that the ground-breaking work in raising awareness about SRI in the region among the financial community was well underway. The emphasis has therefore shifted towards providing tools, mechanisms and training to enable sustainable investment practices to be fully adopted and integrated into financial and investment decision making across the region. ASrIA has strongly positioned itself to continue to play a leading role in driving the SRI agenda with ongoing investment into strong research and training capabilities, an extensive membership and supporter base, and effective partnership relationships.

ASrIA's International Conference 2004 attracted 160 participants to Singapore from around Asia and the globe. The focus was practical, not theoretical. The post-conference site is an excellent record of what Asia's SRI leaders are doing.

New Reports on key topics have been published throughout the year. The two most recent are SRI: An International Comparison of Investor Views with the Japan Research Institute and Japanese Ministry of the Environment, and Made in China - Is This a Sustainable Label? with Bank Sarasin.

ASrIA conducted its first four day training workshop, an event for regional development bankers, hosted by ADFIAP and funded by INWENT.



2003

Throughout 2003, ASrIA continued to consolidate its core services. Several influential reports were produced including one on labour standards in China, and a suite of reports, sponsored by the IFC, on SRI in Asian emerging markets. ASrIA ran a number of briefings for members and other interested participants in Hong Kong and the USA, and jointly hosted or presented at events on SRI in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Tokyo, India, Taiwan and Thailand.

For a written review of ASrIA in 2003, see 'Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) in Asia: Developments and Prospects'.

Meanwhile the website underwent significant upgrading and attracted strong and growing interest with an average of 1800 page hits a day and with e-bulletin subscribers growing to over 5000 individuals from around the Asian region and globally.

2002

During 2002, ASrIA followed up with several events, notably in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei and held its second International Conference in Tokyo in October 2002. For details and material from all our events see the ASrIA events page. ASrIA representatives also spoke at over 30 other conferences and events around the region during 2002, as well as holding numerous meetings with financial groups, businesses, NGOs, community and religious groups and others, helping to put SRI firmly on the map in Asia. For a full summary of ASrIA events and publications see

  
ASrIA's 2002 Review

2001

ASrIA, the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia, was officially launched in February 2001. The founder and Chair of ASrIA, Tessa Tennant, noted that: "The time is right for this approach to investment to take hold in Asia. Anyone serious about sustaining wealth and health for this most populated region of the world cannot afford to ignore what Sustainable & Responsible Investment (SRI) has to offer." Right from the start, ASrIA was established as a web-based organisation so that our small team could reach out to a widely dispersed local and global audience. The Asian markets, in particular Japan, China and Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and India, mean at least eight different languages and over 57% of the world's population. A website was therefore the quickest way for ASrIA to build networks and find people across the region prepared to help the SRI mission. During the first year, ASrIA was funded by a number of financial organisations who signed up as "Founding Sponsors".

In November 2001, ASrIA held its 1st International Conference at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Hong Kong. This event was well attended by speakers and delegates from the US, Europe, and around the Asian region. ASrIA also simultaneously published "SRI in Asia", which includes interviews and view points from a wide range of experts in the SRI field. This was the first of many ASrIA publications. ASrIA also launched itself as a membership organisation at the first Annual conference, and has subsequently attracted over 100 members from across the financial, corporate and non-profit spectrum.

Website Review

The website was first launched at a press conference at the FCC Club on 28th Feb 2001. This was ASrIA's first official event. The site, domain and emails were hosted initially on Yahoo's small business domain service. The original design of the site was outsourced, but the site was otherwise built and administered in-house. A special section for the site was created for the 1st Annual Conference 2 Nov 2001, which also still shows the original design template.

ASrIA hired a full time website manager subsequent to this conference to improve the technical aspects of the site. As part of the first round of site upgrading the domain and emails hosting was transferred from Yahoo to Rackspace, in the US. The design of the site was also improved and the underlying technical operation of the site was significantly upgraded. During 2002 there was also a review of the content on the site. A members only section was also introduced in 2002. During 2003 continuous improvements were made to the site, including upgrading the publications page, to handle the increase in ASrIA research publications.

During 2004 the website was successfully transferred to a new hosting agent in Hong Kong, Ideo Concepts, with an underlying management program that facilitates easier technical management and administration. The website has therefore undergone several changes and upgrades since its launch in 2001. In early 2005 the website underwent a fresh review in order to ensure its future ease of functionality, relevance and value to our members, the investment community and the public.