The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) in cooperation with the United Nations Capital Development Fund are pushing its efforts to broaden Islamic financial technology (fintech) in the country’s capital market via its FIKRA Islamic Fintech Accelerator Programme focused on solutions for the Islamic capital market.
The joint initiative will give startups regulatory guidance, a structured mentorship process, and access to a network of industry and other domain experts, said UNCDF in a statement on Tuesday (May 25).
“Islamic fintech in the Malaysian capital market is still at a nascent stage, but there is great potential for exponential growth with the right ecosystem,” chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar said in his speech at the launch of the programme today.
FIKRA aims to identify and scale relevant and innovative Islamic fintech solutions that can help address three main challenge areas, namely, new Islamic capital market (ICM) offerings, accessibility and social finance integration.
FIKRA was designed with a development perspective to boost the Islamic fintech ecosystem, which is reflected in the evaluation criteria for solutions that include degree of innovation, sustainability and commercial viability, and social impact and meeting sustainable development goals.
The programme is focused on three challenges, namely new Islamic capital market products or services, providing access to the Islamic capital market and tech solutions to integrate traditional Islamic social finance instruments into the capital market.
FIKRA is open to Malaysian and international applicants from other countries who can apply independently or as a consortium.
Source The Star