Malaysia takes lead in Islamic venture capital plan

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is spearheading the establishment of the world's first Islamic Venture Capital in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), said Treasury Secretary-General, Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah.
 
He said a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is expected to be signed in Jakarta this month between Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd (MAVCAP) and the IDB.

"Our team from the Finance Ministry and MAVCAP is currently at the IDB's headquarters in Jeddah, to discuss the final touches to details of the MoU.

"We are looking at an initial fund size of US$100 million," he told reporters after launching Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd's (MDV) Elevate programme here on Wednesday.

The fund would be utilised to finance start-up companies, not only in Malaysia, but also in the region and other Islamic countries.

Mohd Irwan said Islamic countries, apart from Malaysia and Indonesia, were a bit behind in the start-up environment and the MoU is a good avenue for knowledge sharing among the concerned parties.

"The establishment of the Islamic Venture Capital has also the potential to raise the country's per capita income," he added.

Meanwhile, Elevate is a nurturing programme where selected participants will be groomed, coached and mentored by MDV within a 12-month time frame, with the objective of strengthening financial and project management capabilities to increase their ability to secure financing from MDV or other financial institutions.

The participants are also expected to benefit from MDV's extensive resources in terms of experience skillsets, market access, links to key industry participants and partners in the technology and financial ecosystem.

In addition, Elevate will also provide a pre-approved financial allocation of up to RM2 million to the top graduates of the programme. - Bernama