MALAYSIA: Over 3,000 microentrepreneurs have benefited from the iTEKAD program by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) as of May 2023, with improved financial resilience, a press release read.
First launched in 2020, iTEKAD is an umbrella program that was established by BNM, with the aim of assisting low-income microentrepreneurs to strengthen their financial management and business acumen toward generating sustainable income.
Each iTEKAD program combines the provision of business assets funded by Islamic social finance instruments (eg donations, social impact investment, Zakat and cash Waqf) with microfinance, supplemented with structured financial and business training