Why Malaysia Should Convene, Not Just Contribute to, BRICS and Islamic Finance

Source: Malay Mail | Original Published At: 2026-09-23 03:00:00 UTC

Key Points

• Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim cited Islamic capital markets among areas Malaysia wants to pursue through its BRICS partnership after the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit.
• The article argues that Malaysia should act as a convenor of BRICS Islamic finance cooperation rather than only a provider of expertise.
• Halal SMEs often face financing gaps because conventional collateral-based lending does not match their inventory, certification, and supply-chain-based operations.
• Islamic banking and trade finance instruments such as commodity murabahah, musharakah working capital, and supply-chain sukuk could help convert halal SME operational activity into bankable risk.
• The authors propose a BRICS Halal SME Finance Working Group to develop shared standards for translating halal certification data into cross-border underwriting information.
• They suggest measuring success by adoption across BRICS markets, SMEs financed under shared frameworks, and practices Malaysia imports, not only by exports of Malaysian expertise.