IsDB and Securities Commission Malaysia Co-Host Awareness Programme on the Awqaf Properties Investment Fund 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2 December 2025 — The Islamic Development Bank through its Awqaf Investments Division, INV department and the Center of Excellence in Kuala Lumpur (KLCoE), collaborated with the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) to successfully host an Awareness Programme on the Awqaf Properties Investment Fund (APIF) model and offering themed “Funding Economic Development through Waqf.”

The event brought together key industry players to explore innovative pathways for expanding waqf-based economic development in Malaysia through Islamic finance and capital market instruments.

The programme aimed to deepen potential stakeholders’ understanding of APIF as a pioneering global Islamic finance mechanism dedicated to developing income-generating waqf assets. It also highlighted opportunities for mobilizing APIF resources within Malaysia’s Islamic capital market ecosystem. The session featured insights from leading experts from the SC and IsDB.

Br. Hamzil Mohamaddan, General Manager of the Islamic Capital Market at the Securities Commission, spoke on Malaysia’s Islamic Capital Market and its role in advancing waqf development, emphasizing the country’s robust regulatory infrastructure and increasing investor interest in socially impactful instruments.

Br. Syed Faiq Najeeb, Lead Islamic Finance Specialist at KLCoE, provided a snapshot of the Islamic Development Bank and its Center of Excellence in Kuala Lumpur, outlining the KLCoE’s mandate to support innovation and capacity building in Islamic finance across the region.

Dr. Mohamed Ali Chatti, Manager of the Awqaf Investments Division, and Br. Hassan Mahfooz, Lead Awqaf Investment Specialist, delivered an in-depth workshop briefing on APIF’s structure, eligibility criteria, and showcased global success stories. They facilitated an interactive discussion on strategies for leveraging APIF to scale waqf development projects in Malaysia.

Participants engaged extensively with the APIF team, discussing potential projects in Malaysia and reflecting on APIF’s success stories in other countries while elaborating on local contexts regarding Awqaf in Malaysia.

The Programme reinforced IsDB and Malaysia’s collaboration as part of the IsDB-SC MoU signed in 2024 on Islamic capital market innovation and transformative potential of waqf. Altogether over 40 participants from a broad spectrum of Malaysia’s waqf and Islamic finance ecosystem engaged in the discussions.

The workshop concluded with promising action points for potential APIF activities in Malaysia.