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25 - 26 OCTOBER '23
PAVILION HOTEL KUALA LUMPUR

PROGRAM DAY ONE 25TH OCTOBER

8.30 am: Registration & Welcome Coffee

8.50 am: Chairperson’s Opening Address

Moutaz

Dr. Moutaz Abojeib

> Chief Operating Officer, IFAAS, Turkiye

9.00 am: Keynote Address: Catalysing Technology Towards Building an Inclusive and Progressive Islamic Financial System

Suhaimi (1)

Suhaimi Ali

> Assistant Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia

9.20 am: Panel Discussion: Toward Sustainable Economic Landscape

Moutaz

Dr. Moutaz Abojeib

> Chief Operating Officer, IFAAS, Turkiye

Radzuan

Radzuan Tajuddin

> Consultant, The World Bank, Malaysia

Dr. Bello

Dr. Bello Lawal Danbatta

> Secretary-General, Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB)

Hilal

Dr. Hilal Houssain

> Associate Manager, Knowledge Solutions Team, Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI), Saudi Arabia

Arifa

Atty. Arifa A. Ala

> Assistant Governor of the Financial Supervision Subsector III, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

10.15 am: Morning Networking Break

10.45 am: Shariah Panel Discussion

anouar

Dr. Mohamad Anouar Gadhoum

> CEO, Payday Takaful, United Kingdom

Dr. Marjan

Dr. Marjan Muhammad

> Director, Research Quality Assurance & Publications, International Shari’ah Research Academy, Islamic Finance (ISRA) Research Management Centre, INCEIF University

Yousuf

Dr. Yousuf Sultan

> Founder and CEO, ADL Advisory Sdn Bhd

Dr. Azrul

Dr. Azrul Azlan Iskandar Mirza

> Deputy Director, Islamic Capital Market Development, Securities Commission Malaysia

11.30 am: Industry Panel Discussion

Chai Kien Poon

Chai Kien Poon

> Country Head, Funding Societies, Malaysia

Sazulhisyam-v2

Sazul Samsuri

> Designate CTO, Digital Banking,
KAF Investment Bank,
Malaysia

Daniyar

Daniyar Uspanov

> Co-Founder, Tayyab, Kazakhstan

Shafik

Shafik Ali

> Founder & CEO, du-it, Malaysia

Jun Jie

Yoon Jun Jie

> CEO & Founder, Capsphere, Malaysia

12.30 pm: Keynote Presentation

Omar

Omar Mustafa Ansari

> Secretary General, AAOIFI, Bahrain

12.45 pm: Luncheon

2.00 pm: Keynote Presentation: Leveraging fintech for Climate and Sustainability: Harnessing Technology-Enabled Data for Evidence-Based Decision Making

Wael

Wael Mohamed Aaminou

> Expert – Finance Impact, UNDP, and Managing Partner, Green for South Inc., Canada

2.15 pm: Panel Discussion: Islamic FinTech and Financial Empowerment for the Gig Workforce

Arham

Arham Merican

> Chief Strategy Officer, Sharlife and Founder, Sampul.co

anouar

Dr. Mohamad Anouar Gadhoum

> CEO, Payday Takaful, United Kingdom

Ronald

Ronald Yusuf Wijaya

> Chairperson, Indonesia Sharia Fintech Association (AFSI), Indonesia

Andrew-v3

Andrew W. Tan

> CEO & Co-Founder, Alfie iFIN Sdn Bhd, Malaysia

3.00 pm: Afternoon Networking Break

3.20 pm: VCs Talk

Ruslena

Ruslena Ramli

> Director, Digital Finance and Islamic Digital Economy, Digital Industry Development, MDEC

Abdullah Hidayat

Abdullah Hidayat

> Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Ficus Capital, Malaysia

Zhen Hui

Zhen Hui

> Managing Partner, Artem Ventures, Malaysia

Ben

Ben Lim

> CEO & Founder, NEXEA Angels

Manav

Manav Narang

> Director & APAC Lead, Financial Services & Health, Plug and Play APAC

4.10 pm: Startup Demoshow

Untitled design (19)

Nginapzzz Smart Hotels

Untitled design (18)

The Noor

Untitled design (2)

Tayyab

Untitled design (9)

PayDay Takaful

Participating Investors:

  1.  MDEC
  2. Ficus Capital
  3. Artem Ventures
  4. NEXEA Angels
  5. Plug & Play APAC
  6. HASAN

5.10 pm: Chairperson’s Closing Remarks

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25 - 26 OCTOBER '23
KUALA LUMPUR + VIRTUAL (HYBRID)
Moutaz

Dr. Moutaz Abojeib

Dr. Moutaz is an Islamic finance expert with 15 years of work experience in
finance, research, and consultancy in different jurisdictions in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. He holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Finance and is a Certified Shariah Advisor and Auditor (CSAA) from AAOIFI, a Senior Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals (CIIF).
Dr Moutaz is currently a Director at IFAAS and serves as an advisor for several fintech projects.

Suhaimi (1)

Suhaimi Ali

Hj Mohd Suhaimi Bin Hj Abdul Hamid was appointed to the Board and as the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Saadiq Berhad on 16 March 2019. He joined Standard Chartered in 2009 and has both conventional and Islamic banking experience in multiple functions across retail, corporate and commercial banking. He has also garnered domestic and regional exposure throughout his career in local and multinational financial institutions.
Hj Suhaimi has an educational background in Bachelor of Economics (Hons) in 1999 with a major in Economics and minor in Islamic Finance from Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA).
He is a qualified Chartered Professional in Islamic Finance (CPIF). In 2019, he attended the Global Banking Leaders Programme in London and in 2021, he completed the Sustainability Leadership Programme for  Financial Institutions organised by IBFIM, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge Institute.
Hj Suhaimi has travelled extensively throughout his 20-odd years in the financial industry, working and living in countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Kenya.

Radzuan

Radzuan Tajuddin

Mohd Radzuan Ahmad Tajuddin graduated from the National University of Malaysia in 1987, majoring in Finance with a Second Class Upper Degree. He spent serving the Securities Commission Malaysia for 23 years in the area of regulatory supervision and development, and specialises in the area of corporate finance; bond and sukuk markets; prospectus disclosures; and operations and development of Malaysia’s Islamic capital market. Mr Radzuan is currently a short-term consultant (on Green Taxonomy, Islamic Green and Sustainable Finance and Carbon Market Development) World Bank Group, Consultant to Asian Development Bank-affiliate Sustainable Finance Institute Asia (on Climate Finance), Director (Islamic Sustainable Finance), AIFA Consulting Sdn Bhd, Consultant. He is also a training consultant to the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) on Islamic green and sustainable finance. He also sits as an Investment Committee Member of BIMB Investment Management Berhad, a leading Islamic ESG-based fund management company and a subsidiary of the nation’s first Islamic bank, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad; His recent works include project consultant for the World Bank on development of an SRI Taxonomy, a member consultant for Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), Khazakhstan, for development of a Masterplan on Islamic Finance for the AIFC and Khazakhstan; and a member consultant to the Indonesian Government for development of a Masterplan on Indonesia’s Islamic Economy, launched in May 2019 by the President of Indonesia.

Dr. Bello

Dr. Bello Lawal Danbatta

Dr. Bello Lawal Danbatta was appointed the Secretary-General of the IFSB effective 29 January 2018.

Dr. Danbatta, previously the Director of the Centre of Consultancy and Executive Programmes at INCEIF, has over 29 years combined experience in the private, academia, as well as in the
financial services regulation and supervision sectors across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He is a Member of the Accounting and Auditing Board of Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), the Basel Consultative Group (BCG), the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA), the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and has chaired various working groups for the issuance of financial accounting standards for Islamic financial institutions. He has also been involved in the development and drafting of standards, guidelines and frameworks for capital adequacy, accounting, as well as supervision and regulation of Islamic finance for various countries.
Dr. Danbatta holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Banking and Finance from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), and an MBA in Corporate Finance. He is a Chartered Accountant (Fellow) with the Association of Certified Chartered Accountant (ACCA-UK), a Licensed International Financial Analyst (LIFA-UK), and a member of the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals (CIIFP), Member of Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), and International Council for Islamic Finance Educators (ICIFE). Dr. Danbatta is a known Islamic banking and finance consultant, and has been active in providing Islamic finance training and consultancy to central banks, securities commissions, deposit insurance corporations and Islamic banks. He also has a number of publications on Islamic banking, corporate governance and earnings management.
In addition to these corporate engagements, he also held the positions of Assistant Professor at Sultan Qaboos University Oman, a Research Fellow at the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) of University Technology MARA (UiTM), Malaysia and Academic Fellow at Insaniah University Malaysia. He has worked with the Highland Bank of Nigeria Plc, Peugeot Automobiles and Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria.

Hilal

Dr. Hilal Houssain

Dr. Hilal Houssain is an Associate Manager for the Knowledge Solutions Team at the Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI), turning ideas into platform-level innovations, designing, and developing real world state-of-the-art tech solutions using Blockchain & AI/ML for the financial and economic development challenges.

Prior to IsDBI, he held various positions in information security and cryptography for Financial Institutions, working within a broad field covering cryptographically secured transactions for chip-based payment cards, authentication/authorization, and related security countermeasures for attacks against cryptographic primitives/schemes.

He holds a PhD in Computer Science “Cryptography”, University Blaise Pascal, France, with five patents on cryptography and DLT, and several dozen articles on security and cryptography published in international journals and conferences.

Arifa

Atty. Arifa A. Ala

Atty. Arifa A. Ala, a CPA-lawyer, is a career central banker, with extensive experience and wide technical expertise in banking supervision and regulation. She has handled different departments and units, and currently heads one of the four Sub-Sectors in the Financial Supervision Sector, where she is responsible for supervising different types of financial institutions, banks and non banks alike. Atty. Ala has made significant contributions in the development and enhancement of various policies that have made substantial impact in the conduct of BSP’s supervisory function and processes. She has also played a vital role in the development of programs designed to enhance the rural and cooperative banking industry, such as the Strengthening Program for Cooperative Banks, Strengthening Program for Rural Banks and Consolidation Program for Rural Banks. As the BSP’s point person for Islamic banking and finance, Atty. Ala chairs the Islamic Finance Coordination Forum which aims to establish an Islamic banking system in the Philippines that can operate alongside the conventional banking system. She also sits  in the Philippine Halal Export Development and Promotion Board as the Alternate Representative of the Governor of the BSP. In December 2022, she was cited as one of the Most Influential Women in Islamic Business and Finance and received the 2022 “WOMANi Professional Award” from the Cambridge Institute of Islamic Finance during a ceremony held in Jakarta, Indonesia. Atty. Ala earned her BSBA- Accounting degree from the Mindanao State University, her Masters in Business Administration from the Ateneo de Manila University, her Law degree from the San Beda College, Manila, and her Masters
in Public Management from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Harvard Kennedy School.

anouar

Dr. Mohamad Anouar Gadhoum

Dr. Mohamed Anouar Gadhoum is an Islamic Finance expert passionate about technology and innovation with a remarkable history in the development of Islamic FinTech ecosystem internationally. He has been playing a leading role in the growth of Islamic finance globally by contributing & managing a portfolio of Governmental & Institutional advisory projects across multi-jurisdictions (Malaysia, UK, France, Canada, African Sub saharan countries, Astana countries, etc).

Holder of a PHD from INCEIF (Malaysia, AACSB) and certified CSAA from The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions – AAOIFI (Bahrain), Dr. Mohamed Anouar is a Senior Consultant with IFAAS (UK) an active “Shari’ah- Board” member of multi-sectorial financial institutions and successfully launched Fintech Startups such as IFIN (Bahrain), Manzil (Canada), and MucPay (France).

Dr. Gadhoum has been recently promoted to join the AAOIFI working group to develop Digital transformation standards for Islamic Banks.

He is currently leading “PAYDAY TAKAFUL”; a next generation solution partner to Banks, Insurers and corporates providing financial wellbeing services to low-income earners.

Dr. Marjan

Dr. Marjan Muhammad

Marjan Muhammad is a Senior Research Fellow cum the Director of the Research Quality Assurance & Publications Department at the International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) Research Management Centre, INCEIF University. In her current capacity, she oversees different portfolios including research quality and assessment, publications and research intellectual property and  commercialisation. She was the Director of Research Affairs Department at ISRA from 2013-2017. She is currently a member of the Shariah Advisory Council of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) effective from 1 November 2019 and a member of the Shariah Advisory Council of Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) effective from 1 July 2023. Prior to that, she was a member of Shariah Committee of Maybank Islamic Berhad, SME Bank Berhad, MBSB Berhad and RHB Islamic Berhad. At the international level, she sits on the Advisory Committee of Experts of Lotus Bank Limited and Shariah Supervisory Board of Lotus Capital Limited, both are based in Nigeria. Marjan obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Heritage (Fiqh and Usul al -Fiqh) from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and graduated from her Master’s and PhD degrees at the same university.

Yousuf

Dr. Yousuf Sultan

Mufti Yousuf Sultan is a distinguished expert in Islamic finance, blending a robust foundation in shariah and technology. Holding credentials such as a CSAA from AAOIFI, MSc from INCEIF Malaysia, and affiliations with the Securities Commission of Malaysia and Ethica in Dubai, Yousuf stands out with his multifaceted expertise. As the visionary Founder and CEO of Adl Advisory and co founder of IFA Consultancy, he champions Islamic finance through comprehensive training, seminars, and advisory services. Recognized as a leading speaker and Shariah adviser across multiple countries, Yousuf actively contributes to AAOIFI’s Working Groups and holds esteemed positions in Shariah committees, including roles at Standard Chartered Saadiq Malaysia and IDLC Finance Bangladesh.

Dr. Azrul

Dr. Azrul Azlan Iskandar Mirza

Dr Azrul Azlan Iskandar Mirza is a Deputy Director, Islamic Capital Market Development at Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). Prior joining SC in 2022, he was an active shariah advisors and committee at various Islamic Financial Institutions i.eChairman of Shariah
Committee SME Bank & FWD Takaful, member of Shariah Committee of Maybank Islamic,
BIMB Securities, Alliance Islamic Bank, Alliance Investment Bank, HSBC Amanah Takaful,
Zakat Collection Centre of Pahang etc; Executive Director of USIM Healthcare Ptd. Ltd. and
Senior Lecturer at Faculty of Economics and Muamalat, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM).
He was also a member of fatwa committee for Negeri Sembilan State Government and Board
of trustee for Malaysia Islamic Economic Development Foundation (YaPEIM). Dr Azrul Azlan
obtained a Bachelor in Shariah (Hons.) from the University of al-Azhar, Egypt. He holds a
Master of Management from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and a Ph.D in
Islamic Finance from International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF). He is
also holding Certified Shariah Advisor (CSA), Certified Shariah Advisor & Auditor (CSAA) and
Chartered Islamic Finance Professional (CIIF)

Chai Kien Poon

Chai Kien Poon

Kien Poon, or KP, leads and manages the day-to-day operations of Funding Societies in Malaysia, as well as driving strategic business partnerships and initiatives for the largest and leading unified SME digital finance platform in the country. Prior to Funding Societies, KP was a Senior Manager with the Securities Commission Malaysia, focusing on capital market development and regulation across various verticals.
He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder and holds a degree in Economics from The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Sazulhisyam-v2

Sazul Samsuri

Educated in France, has been in Technology and Digital space for over 23 years in various industries such as Asset Management, Investment, Oil & Gas and consulting. Previous success stories include the operational and enablement of the first e-Wallet that provides daily return and introducing wealth management onto the e Wallet space. Currently building the team, the culture and digital platform for the Digital bank consortium lead by KAF Investment Bank.

Daniyar

Daniyar Uspanov

Daniyar Uspanov is a Co-founder of Tayyab. Daniyar has 15 years of experience in the financial sector. In the last 5 years, he worked as a CEO in the Islamic financial company Al Saqr Finance.

Shafik

Shafik Ali

Shafik is the Founder and CEO of du-it, is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in financial services, technology, strategy, and growth. Beginning his career as a Central banker, Shafik later transitioned to the private sector, where he played a crucial role in incubating corporate ventures and driving product development. With a strong academic background in risk management and Islamic Finance, Shafik’s pioneering fintech startup du-it, specializes in providing Shariah Compliant B2B Credit Solutions which strives to effectively address businesses’ cash flow issues by offering on-demand access to credit B2B transactions.

Jun Jie

Yoon Jun Jie

Yoon Jun Jie is the CEO and Founder of Capsphere, Malaysia’s 1st Asset Based Peer-to-Peer Financing and Investment platform registered with Securities Commission Malaysia. He started Capsphere to support local SME’s and to enable communities to take part in their growth. Previously, he was Vice-President in the South East Asia Global Corporate Banking team at Bank of America. He has gained experience in facilitating debt financing, advising on cash management and treasury solutions for global Corporations and Financial Institutions.
He has completed the Professional Credit Certification from Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers. His education background includes MPhil in Economics from University of Cambridge and BSc in Statistics, Economics and Finance from University College London.

Omar

Omar Mustafa ansari

Omar is working at the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) – global Islamic finance standard setter, as its Secretary General. Previously he was Partner – Assurance & Head of Islamic Finance (Pakistan & Afghanistan) at Ernst & Young Pakistan. He is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP).
At AAOIFI, he is responsible for managing the overall  affairs of the institution as the organization’s operational head, as well as, leading the process of development of accounting, auditing, governance and ethics standards for the global Islamic finance industry and coordinating with and supporting its technical boards. Omar’s key areas of expertise include regulations and standards related to Islamic finance, banking and Takaful, as well as, assurance and advisory services to Islamic financial institutions, including Islamic accounting advisory, audits, Shari’ah Audits, corporate finance advisory, structuring of Shari’ah compliant transactions, accountancy and financial reporting, Islamic finance training, financial modelling, risk management and development / review of manuals, SOPs and systems.

Wael

Wael Mohamed Aaminou

Wael Mohamed Aaminou is an expert in green and social finance with experience overseeing and leading assignments in various regions across the globe, including North America, the Middle East, Northwestern Africa, and Southeast Asia. His clients include United Nations organizations, development finance institutions, international banks, and NGOs. In addition to his professional experience, Wael Aaminou has collaborated with esteemed academic institutions in Britain, France, Turkey, the Arab world, and South Asia. He has contributed to multiple scientific articles and books, focusing on consumer behavior modeling and sustainability financing. In 2016, he was awarded the Best Agent-Based Simulation Application Award by the Islamic Development Bank. Wael Aaminou holds a Ph.D. in financial engineering from Ecole Mohammadia d’Ingénieurs in Morocco, an MBA in Finance from Duke University in the United States, where he received the Academic Excellence Award, and an IT engineering degree from ENSIAS in Morocco. Furthermore, he completed the Public Leadership Credential program at Harvard Kennedy School from 2020 to 2022.

Arham

Arham Merican

Arham Merican has been involved in the Islamic Finance industry for over seven years specializing in Shariah, Sustainability, Social Finance and Governance. Since 2015, he has served both local and foreign Islamic Finance Institutions with multiple portfoliosranging from retail and corporate banking, Sukuk advisory and structuring, Takaful and Islamic Capital Market advisory and product structuring. He started his career as a Shariah Executive in Asian Finance Bank (AFB), a subsidiary of Qatar Islamic Bank where he serves as the Secretary for Sheikh Dr. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghudah, Chairman of Shariah Committee (AFB), Sheikh Dr. Ali al-Qaradaghi and Sheikh Dr. Walid Bin Hadi. Then, he served as the Shariah Secretariat in Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad (MIDF) where he oversees Sukuk structuring and issuance under MIDF Investment Bank Berhad. He was instrumental in the structuring of Merdeka ASEAN Green Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Sukuk, the first adopter of the ASEAN Green Bond Standards (AGBS) developed by the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) and complies with the SRI Sukuk Framework by the Securities Commission of Malaysia. He was also involved in the structuring of Telekosang Hydro One Sdn Bhd Sukuk, the world’s first greenfield mini-hydro green SRI Sukuk. In MIDF, he oversaw the transformation of MIDF Group and its subsidiaries MIDF into a full fledged Islamic Financial Institution. Then, he served as the Assistant Manager, Shariah Compliance in Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation (Malaysia) Berhad where he was tasked to set up the Shariah Compliance function based on the Shariah Governance Policy Document issued in 2019 by Bank Negara Malaysia. He’s a member of the Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic Finance (ASAS) and a member of the Malaysian Young Shariah Scholars Association (MySSA). He also holds a certificate in Islamic Financial Planner (IFP) by Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM). He obtained his Master’s in Development Economics from University of Malaya (2021) focusing in the area of Zakat & Multidimensional Poverty Index and his BA in Shariah and Islamic Economics, Banking & Finance from Yarmouk University, Jordan (2015). Most recently, he has been selected as the finalparticipant of TERAJU SUPERB Accelerator Program and among the top 25 participants for the FWD Start-up Studio Alpha Startups Pre-Accelerator Program with his ideation stage startup – Sampul, an application which allow users to generate digital wasiat for digital assets.

Ronald

Ronald Yusuf Wijaya

Ronald Yusuf Wijaya is the Indonesian Sharia Fintech Association (AFSI) Chairperson and CEO of Ethis Indonesia, a peer-to-peer financing fintech licensed in Indonesia. Apart from that, Ronald is also on the Advisory Board of the Indonesian Sharia Blockchain Association (ABSI) and the commissioner of Fasset Indonesia, a Licensed Crypto Asset Exchanger in Indonesia.

Andrew-v3

Andrew W. Tan

Andrew is a digital financial services specialist with 20 years of Big4 risk advisory experience. He has consulted and audited banks, microfinance, fintechs and insurtechs across Australia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia & Thailand. Andrew founded Alfie Tech in 2020 to do AI-based behavioural scoring using digital and financial data. Using this AI technology, Alfie has launched social finance and microfinance initiatives in collaboration with an Islamic bank and a 5G telco in Malaysia.

Ruslena

Ruslena Ramli

Ruslena Ramli is the Director of Fintech and Islamic Digital Economy (FIDE) at Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). She plays a key role in driving forward MDEC’s value proposition as a frontrunner in building the country’s Islamic digital economy and positioning Malaysia as the Heart of Digital ASEAN. Ruslena began her career as a credit analyst with RAM’s infrastructure and utilities rating team in 1999, before broadening her horizon as an investment banker in various leading financial institutions. Two decades of work experience culminated towards her becoming an Islamic Finance Specialist. Her vast experience encompassed investment, commercial and retail banking, having structured and advised on sukuk/bond issues, syndicated facilities and bridging transactions, including securing Bank Negara Malaysia’s approval for the establishment of Islamic banking products. She also brings to MDEC her market outreach within the global Islamic Finance community which will facilitate FIDE’s community development and crystalise MDEC’s vision to become the gateway in propelling Malaysia as ASEAN’s Islamic Fintech Hub. Ruslena holds a Master’s Degree in Islamic Finance from International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance.

Abdullah Hidayat

Abdullah Hidayat

Abdullah Hidayat, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Ficus Capital is a distinguished professional with over 17 years of experience and a wealth of expertise in several areas, including strategic planning and review, Islamic finance, financial structuring, business origination, and SME development. His extensive knowledge and skills have been honed through his work with renowned organizations such as Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) and Islamic Corporation For The Development Of The Private Sector (ICD), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group. In recognition of his exceptional talents, Hidayat was selected in 2015 as the sole candidate from the Asia and Pacific region to participate in the ICD’s prestigious Islamic Finance Talent Development Program (IFTDP). Prior to founding Ficus Capital, he made significant contributions to the Islamic finance industry by spearheading initiatives such as:
• Working as a Project Consultant to International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (“ISRA”) and Islamic Development Bank Institute (“IDBI”) to develop an alternative to Commodity Murabaha for liquidity management products for Islamic financial institutions.
• Serving as Lead consultant for Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) on the Islamic Digital Economy Mi’yar initiative.
• Acting as Principal Consultant for Selangor Halal Action Plan, where he developed a comprehensive action plan for the State of Selangor in developing their Halal industry.
• Authoring an ICD Whitepaper on Developing Human Capital for Sustainability in Islamic Finance.

Since founding Ficus Capital, Hidayat has been actively involved in the development of SMEs and startups in Malaysia, making significant contributions such as: 

• Curating development programs and becoming the key mentor for 100 SMEs from various industries in MDEC Digital Small Business Accelerator program.
• Becoming the main mentor and coach for 40 Islamic Digital Economy startups in the MDEC Islamic Digital Economy Accelerator program.
• Providing technical consultation and subject matter expertise on strategy, finance, and compliance for 19 companies under the Ekuinas Iltizam Catalyst Program.
Abdullah Hidayat’s professional goals and aspirations are focused on democratizing Islamic finance and enabling more people to use and understand Islamic finance instruments, particularly risk-sharing instruments, to expand socio-economic development worldwide. He aims to achieve this by ensuring that everyone worldwide can live with dignity and balance through a sustainable socio-economic system.

Zhen Hui

Zhen Hui

Zhen Hui is a Managing Partner of Artem Ventures, overseeing a fintech, insurtech, and takatech fund in partnership with FWD Group that invests in companies that promote financial inclusion, economic development, and employment creation. He has 10+ years of experience in venture capital and financial advisory mainly spanning the digital tech and SME sector, including working at Captii Ventures as an Associate Director prior to co-founding Artem Ventures. Apart from investment activities, Zhen contributes his time and effort to develop the startup and investment ecosystem in Malaysia in various capacities as a mentor and speaker.

Ben

Ben Lim

Ben Lim is the CEO/Founder at NEXEA, an early Startup Accelerator, Angel Network and Venture Capital. Ben founded NEXEA with a few partners, and has since  grown the deal flow and Startup investments in multiples. He also grew the startup accelerator programme called the Corporate Accelerator, bringing in over 20 corporates as well as world-class investor-mentors to help Startups grow at a minimum of 2-3X on a yearly basis. Partners of the programme include AWS, Huawei Cloud, Google Cloud, IBM, Microsoft Azure, and many more.
Over the years, Ben has gone through thousands of Startups and has a deep emphasis on Startup validation and investments for Startups. Revenues of Startups under his portfolio amount to hundreds of millions. Valuations of Startups under NEXEAs programmes amount to over a billion in total.

Manav

Manav Narang

Manav leads corporate innovation services for plug and play APAC focused on partners in the insurance and banking space. He specialises in strategy, operations and innovation and has 10+ years of experience working in the banking and insurance space with corporations such as JP Morgan, Barclays, Metlife, TD Bank, Nedbank, Oaknorth, amongst others.
At Plug and Play, Manav leads engagements with our APAC corporate partners in banking and insurance space. Key partners include MSIG, Tokio Marine, Nippon Life, Income Insurance, Swiss Re, Prudential, MetLife, Cathay Financial, VISA, Krung Thai Bank, AsiaPay, amongst others.

Untitled design (19) (1)

Nginapzzz Smart Hotels

The future eco-friendly, seemless & swift acomodation experience that is clean, convenient & comfortable. With a vision to be in every major city throughout the world becoming your home away from home throughout your travels.
Untitled design (18) (1)

The Noor

Noor (the light) lights up the life of every muslim and will be an app that is handy and accessible at any point of time, and to ensure this happens we have pledged the PREMIUM Noor App will be LIFETIME FREE to be downloaded by everyone!

Untitled design (2)

Tayyab

Tayyab is a digital Islamic ecosystem with all neobanking features of top-notch functionality and UX. Tayyab ecosystem includes an Islamic lifestyle app for daily spiritual journey of users with unique digital features. Being established in DIFC Dubai, Tayyab is currently operating in Kazakhstan and Turkiye and looking for further expansion to SEA and MENA regions. 

Untitled design (9)

PayDay Takaful

PAYDAY TAKAFUL is a financial wellbeing app for low/medium income workers providing them with the financial protection against unforeseen circumstances before the pay day using fully digital micro-insurance services coupled with tailored interest-free financial solutions.