Related Research Articles
The economy of Malaysia is the fourth largest in Southeast Asia and the 38th largest in the world according to the International Monetary Fund. Labour productivity in Malaysia is significantly higher than in neighbouring Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines or Vietnam, due to a high density of knowledge-based industries and adoption of cutting-edge technology for manufacturing and digital economy. According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2019, the Malaysian economy is the 27th most competitive country economy in the world, and of the top ten countries in the world to adopt a digital legal framework.
Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically lack collateral, steady employment, or a verifiable credit history. It is designed to support entrepreneurship and alleviate poverty. Many recipients are illiterate, and therefore unable to complete paperwork required to get conventional loans. As of 2009 an estimated 74 million people held microloans that totaled US$38 billion. Grameen Bank reports that repayment success rates are between 95 and 98 percent.
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings and checking accounts; microinsurance; and payment systems, among other services. Microfinance services are designed to reach excluded customers, usually poorer population segments, possibly socially marginalized, or geographically more isolated, and to help them become self-sufficient.
The Star is an English-language newspaper in Malaysia. Based in Petaling Jaya, it was established in 1971 as a regional newspaper in Penang. It is the largest paid English newspaper in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. It has a daily circulation of about 250,000, far eclipsing the circulation of its next-largest paid English-language competitor, the New Straits Times.
Grameen Bank is a microfinance organisation and community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It makes small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral.
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. Yunus and the Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below". The Norwegian Nobel Committee said that "lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty" and that "across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development". Yunus has received several other national and international honours. He received the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010.
Kiva is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, it is the world's first online lending platform connecting online lenders to entrepreneurs across the globe. Kiva's mission is "to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive."
LAPO is a Nigerian organisation with a microfinance bank dedicated to self-employment through microfinance and an NGO, a non-governmental, non-profit community development organization focused on the empowerment of the poor and the vulnerable.
In finance, subprime lending is the provision of loans to people in the United States who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule. Historically, subprime borrowers were defined as having FICO scores below 600, although this threshold has varied over time.
FINCA Afghanistan is a nonprofit microfinance organization and an affiliate of FINCA International. Its headquarters is in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Khalid bin Abdul Samad is a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister of Federal Territories in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from July 2018 to the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shah Alam since March 2008. He is a member and Communications Director of the National Trust Party (AMANAH), a component party of the PH opposition coalition and was a member of the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), a former component party of the former Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Barisan Alternatif (BA) opposition coalitions.
Microcredit for water supply and sanitation is the application of microcredit to provide loans to small enterprises and households in order to increase access to an improved water source and sanitation in developing countries. While most investments in water supply and sanitation infrastructure are financed by the public sector, investment levels have been insufficient to achieve universal access. Commercial credit to public utilities was limited by low tariffs and insufficient cost-recovery. Microcredits are a complementary or alternative approach to allow the poor to gain access to water supply and sanitation.
Datuk Seri Dr. Mujahid Yusof, is a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Religious Affairs in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from July 2018 to the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Parit Buntar since March 2008. He is a member of the National Trust Party (AMANAH), a component party of the PH opposition coalition and was a member of the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), a component party of the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition and formerly Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition.
Datuk Seri Dr. Dzulkefly bin Ahmad is a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister of Health in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from May 2018 to his resignation and the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kuala Selangor since May 2018 and from March 2008 to May 2013. He is a member the National Trust Party (AMANAH), a component party of PH opposition coalition. He was previously a member of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), a former component party of the former Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Barisan Alternatif (BA) opposition coalitions.
Zidisha allows people to lend small amounts of money directly to entrepreneurs in developing countries. It is the first peer-to-peer microlending service to link borrowers and lenders across international borders without a local microfinance institution intermediary. The organization is named after the Swahili word zidisha, which means "grow" or "expand".
Mohamad bin Sabu, commonly known as Mat Sabu, is a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister of Defence in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from May 2018 to the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kota Raja since May 2018, Kuala Kedah from November 1999 to March 2004, Kubang Kerian from April 1995 to November 1999 and Nilam Puri from October 1990 to April 1995. He has also served as the founding and 1st President of the National Trust Party or Parti Amanah Negara (AMANAH), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition coalition.
The impact of microcredit is a subject of much controversy. Proponents state that it reduces poverty through higher employment and higher incomes. This is expected to lead to improved nutrition and improved education of the borrowers' children. Some argue that microcredit empowers women. In the US and Canada, it is argued that microcredit helps recipients to graduate from welfare programs. Critics say that microcredit has not increased incomes, but has driven poor households into a debt trap, in some cases even leading to suicide. They add that the money from loans is often used for durable consumer goods or consumption instead of being used for productive investments, that it fails to empower women, and that it has not improved health or education.
The National Trust Party, is a registered political party in Malaysia advocating a reformist strand of political Islam. The party was founded as the Malaysia Workers' Party before being handed over in August 2015 to Gerakan Harapan Baru, a group of progressive Islamist leaders of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party which lost in the June 2015 party election. This group of Islamists then redefined the Malaysia Workers' Party as an Islamic reformist party on 16 September 2015. The party currently has eleven elected Members of Parliament. It is one of the four component parties of the opposition coalition in Malaysia called Pakatan Harapan.
Mohamed Hanipa bin Maidin is a Malaysian politician who served as the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and former Minister Liew Vui Keong from July 2018 to the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sepang since May 2013. He is a member of the National Trust Party (AMANAH), a component party of the PH opposition coalition.
Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Kadir bin Sheikh Fadzir is a Malaysian politician and former seven-term Member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia representing Kulim-Bandar Baharu constituency in the state of Kedah. He also formerly served as the Minister of Information (1999–2006), Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism (1997–2004) in the Cabinet of Malaysia.
References
- ↑ "Home - New Straits Times - Malaysia General Business Sports and Lifestyle News" . Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ↑ Matthew Fox (Jul 23, 2010). "Malaysian Microfinance Institution (MFI), Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), Claims "World's Highest" Microcredit Repayment Rate of 99.2 Percent". microcapital.org. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
- ↑ "Aiming for Greater Financial Inclusion through Sustainable Development: The Story of AIM" (PDF). aif.org.my. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
