‘TAP POTENTIAL OF 1.8B MUSLIMS WORLDWIDE’
Islamic digital economy becoming big space, says panellist at IBFIM event
ISLAMIC digital economy offers vast potential and technology entrepreneurs should tap the 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide, according to panellists at the Future Talent Forum.
“One of the trends of Industry 4.0 is that the focus is shifting from big businesses to the consumers. So the Islamic digital economy and Islamic consumers, the Muslim lifestyle, is becoming a very big space,’’ said Malaysia Muslim Pro App country manager Nik Emir Din at the event organised by the Islamic Banking & Finance Institution Malaysia (IBFIM).
He said Muslim Pro had more users than ride-sharing apps at more than 60 million users worldwide and that showed the power of the Islamic economy.
Fellow panellist, Robin Lee of Thomson Reuters, said Malaysia, which housed the regional headquarters of some of the biggest global tech names, including Dell, had what it takes to achieve its strategic digital objectives.
“From technology and psychology perspectives, we actually got it, we’ve had it for quite a while. Dell’s Asia Pacific headquarters is in Malaysia, all the manufacturing is For example and Western Digital has a factory in Malaysia.
“In fact, we have a headstart on that front because of that mindset,” he said.
IBFIM chairman and Maybank Islamic Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Mohamed Rafique Merican said the digital economy brought along disruptions to previously established norms but also tremendous opportunities.
“The introduction of the Islamic Digital Economy framework this year by the Malaysian Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) serves as a timely guide to strengthen Malaysia’s position as a leader in the regional and global Islamic digital marketplaces.”
The digital economy had been a key growth driver for Malaysia, contributing 18.2 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product in 2016, according to MDEC.
This is expected to exceed the projected 20 per cent contribution by 2020. According to the 2017 ICDReuters report, the Islamic finance assets grew to US$2.2 trillion (RM9.11 trillion) in 2016 and it is forecast to grow to US$3.8 trillionby 2022.