The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) last Thursday (27 September 2018) hosted a forum titled “Achieving the SDGs: Unleashing the Potential of Islamic Finance” on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly. The Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad officiated the event which advocated the use of Islamic finance to close funding gaps in achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Global industry leaders attending the forum discussed how Islamic finance can provide an innovative financing mechanism for the private sector to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The SC, UNDP and IsDB have also committed to collaborate further to advance the use of Islamic finance in funding the SDGs through capacity building workshops, awareness initiatives and international dialogues specifically to promote green sukuk as a funding mechanism.

Tan Sri Ranjit Ajit Singh, Chairman of the SC said, “The SC will continue to facilitate the development of a sustainable financing ecosystem, including green sukuk, and leverage Malaysia’s position as a leader in the Islamic capital market to encourage innovation and collaboration in advancing the funding of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

The SC has paved the way for the convergence of Islamic instruments and sustainable financing with the introduction of the Sustainable and Responsible Investment Sukuk Framework, which facilitated the issuance of the world’s first green sukuk out of Malaysia in 2017. Malaysia has issued a total of five green sukuk to date.