Search Results for: Malaysia

United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Pure Harvest Smart Farms plans to raise funding through a new sukuk (Islamic bond) to support its food-security driven expansion plans, Tariq Sanad, the company’s chief financial officer, told Salaam Gateway.

The agritech firm’s breakthrough farming system that can produce year-round crops in the desert has attracted a diverse mix of investors since its inception in 2016.…

Cambodia’s clothing sector may continue to face challenges over its weak backward linkages and pressure to increase wages – balancing reasonable pay with international competitiveness in price sensitive markets – but its apparel export receipts remain healthy. The country’s clothing export earnings were not seriously damaged by the Covid-19 pandemic, which had a relatively light impact on Cambodia.…

There is a growing global movement to align Islamic social finance with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (https://sdgs.un.org/goals), which are designed to address global environmental, social and economic challenges by 2030. These include combating poverty, inequality, climate change and environmental degradation and ensuring social justice.…

Time was when modest Muslim fashion was about being unseen – practicing piety without giving as much as a nod to style or fashion. But female consumers around the Muslim world are increasingly combining their desire to proclaim modesty and religious identity without discarding elegance and sophistication in their clothing choices.…

The global Islamic microfinance market has room to grow significantly if it can overcome social and regulatory barriers that have so far curbed its expansion, say experts. Given microfinance is a poverty-alleviation mechanism that provides credit and other financial resources to poor and low-income households and small-and-medium-sized businesses, it fits well with the charitable traditions of Islam.…

A lack of common international Islamic financial regulatory system is hindering the development of Islamic social finance instruments, causing a dearth of good practice solutions that could effectively fight poverty, say experts.

In the February 2021 issue of the ISRA (International Shari’ah Research Academy) International Journal of Islamic Finance, Abdulsalam Ahmed Sawmar and his co-authors say one key element of Muslim charity – zakat (obligatory charity) – historically, “has been an integral part of the Islamic economic system because of its sizable impact in achieving social harmony and preserving decent living standard for the needy segments of Muslim communities.”…

With Islamic finance strengthening and diversifying, service providers are increasingly targeting non-Islamic markets, competing directly with non-Islamic services. While demand in non-Islamic markets has historically been tied to factors spanning from real estate investment in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) economies to wealth management of non-Islamic countries’ Muslim minority populations, additional tailwinds are now deriving from Islamic finance’s closeness to the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria used by socially conscious investors.…

Time was when hijabs were simply religious garb for Muslim women that covered their head and chest of religiously observant women. But hijab design has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years, with wearers wanting elegance while expressing their religious identity.

In Bangladesh, for example, online fashion influencers have been particularly influential since the mid-2010s, promoting different hijab trends and styles online, with local entrepreneurs increasingly producing and selling hijabs online, especially via Facebook.…

Observers of the global Islamic finance industry are predicting significant imminent growth in sharia-compliant environmental and social governance (ESG) investment, as demand for financial institutions to deploy funds in ethical ways expands, along with awareness of climate change and social justice.…

The Muslim world is extremely diverse culturally, so it is no surprise that colour cosmetics trends are many and varied. However, one clear universal trend is that Muslim women are on average becoming more knowledgeable about make-up, especially with internet influencers spreading advice on products and techniques.…