PAVING THE FUTURE: Pracha (second right) assisted by Abdul Malek (second left) along with other dignitaries during the launch of the conference. The future of the Ar-Rahnu Islamic pawnbroking scheme will depend a lot on how Ar-Rahnu operators sustain their businesses. — Bernama photo
PATTANI, Thailand: The future of the Ar-Rahnu Islamic pawnbroking scheme will depend a lot on how Ar-Rahnu operators sustain their businesses, says Datuk Dr Abd Malek Awang Kechil, Secretary-General of the Regional Ar-Rahnu Secretariat.
“While making a reasonable profit, they have to uphold the social mission as an important agenda,” he said in his opening speech at the Regional Ar-Rahnu Secretariat Conference 2012 here.
The fundamental issues related to implementation and expansion of the programme such as funding, expertise, innovations in technical operations and marketing, also need to be thoroughly considered, he said.
Also present at the opening ceremony of the two-day conference were Thailand’s Minister of Justice Pracha Prompok and Chairman of the Regional Ar-Rahnu Secretariat Zainal Abidin Sulong Tohmeena.
The conference was attended by delegations from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, Timor Leste and Cambodia.
Themed ‘Strengthening the Ar-Rahnu Microcredit Scheme, Promoting Enterpreneursim for the Southeast Asian Ummah’s Well-Being’, the conference is a platform to exchange ideas on developing the programme in the region.
Abd Malek said the Ar-Rahnu programme has benefited more than 7.8 million people regionally and loans totalling US$5.4 billion have been disbursed to lower income groups in the region.
Demand for the Ar-Rahnu scheme has risen substantially due to its many advantages, he said, adding studies by the Malaysian Economic Development Foundation in 2010-2011 found about 70 per cent of clients had used the scheme to finance productive activities such as business and education.
“Our main concern is to see the impact of Ar-Rahnu programme on the development of entrepreneurs, that is why continuous intellectual discourse is a very important step in finding the best approach towards an effective entrepreneurship development programme,” he added.
Meanwhile, Prompok, who represented Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, said the Ar-Rahnu Islamic pawnbroking scheme is a good way to strengthen the economy.
“Ar-Rahnu is an efficient Islamic financial system with a low service charge, and is also compatible with Islamic culture, which is against interest (riba),” he added. — Bernama