Maybank Islamic Berhad has collaborated with Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) to launch a bakery and cafe incubator programme for 80 university students from underprivileged families with the objective of empowering them with entrepreneurial skills and ensuring the sustainability of their livelihoods.
This is USIM’s first such project and Maybank Islamic is contributing a total of RM500,000 of its Zakat funds to support this programme, which features basic business management training including baking skills, marketing, financial management, and knowing the importance of halal certification at an early stage. The aim is to prepare these students to manage start-ups in the form of cafes, kiosks, and outlets in the Nilai area.
These participating USIM students are from Year Two to Three across various faculties and have completed five of the programme modules – both theory and practical. In conjunction with the upcoming Raya celebrations, they have been actively making and selling a wide range of Raya cookies, from a café called Genba Bakery located at USIM’s Student Mall.
The launch of the baker incubator took place recently and was officiated by USIM Chairman Senator Datuk Dr. Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri. Also present was Maybank Islamic deputy CEO Encik Nor Shahrizan Sulaiman who later launched the entrepreneurship programme.
In his speech, Nor Shahrizan said that Maybank Islamic has been collaborating with USIM since 2020 with the Sewing Skills Entrepreneurship Programme, in which the bank had funded some RM200,000 for 20 students from the lower-income brackets to pursue their sewing interests. He added that with this latest collaboration, Maybank Islamic has to date, allocated a total of RM700,000 of the Bank’s zakat funds to USIM benefiting a total of 100 students.
“We believe in empowering the students’ economic wellbeing through practical entrepreneurship programmes such as entrepreneurship and vocational skills courses with the aim of helping to improve their entrepreneurial skills and economic status, especially for students that come from low-income families. We want them to not just excel in their studies but also to give them the assurance of a more comfortable lives after their graduation,” he said.
Maybank Islamic’s participation in the training and prosumerism programme for the bakery at USIM which is also supported by USIM’s Zakat and Waqf Centre, is one of the Bank’s many efforts to showcase how Zakat can contribute to the development of Islamic social finance. This, in turn, is an opportunity for relevant parties to further develop the potential of Islamic social finance in enhancing the society and well-being of the beneficiaries.
“In line with our mission of Humanising Financial Services, we believe that it is our responsibility to support the local community by addressing local challenges, building community resilience, creating inclusion, and taking responsive action to promote economic development and social well-being. Whilst at the same time being a responsible organisation, we aim to also integrate
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) elements in our initiatives, in accordance with Maybank Group’s sustainability commitment,” said Nor Shahrizan.
