Azleena Idris
Director, Corporate Services
PayNet Malaysia
Ms Azleena Idris is Director, Corporate Services Division of Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) where she leads strategic corporate planning, legal, governance, rules, corporate and marketing communications departments.
With over 23 years of combined experience both as a regulator and in the financial services sector, she played an instrumental role in a number of national and international initiatives including the 2nd Financial Sector Master Plan, Malaysia as an International Financial Centre (MIFC), Islamic Financial Services Act 2013, International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation, founding RHB Islamic Bank Berhad and merger and acquisition exercises involving the RHB Group. Prior to PayNet, she spent a brief stint as General Counsel of an Islamic bank during which the bank won a landmark Islamic finance case and became the first Islamic bank to formalise fintech collaborations in the area of foreign currency
remittances using blockchain technology. Before that, she was with Bank Negara Malaysia with primary responsibilities in Islamic financial infrastructure, liberalisation and internationalisation development strategies for over a decade. She was with RHB Capital Berhad for close to 10 years where she held a senior legal position and was also joint company secretary of Rashid Hussain Berhad, the ultimate listed parent company. She is also a shortterm expert with the International Monetary Fund.
Apart from being trained and qualified as a lawyer in England, she has a Global Executive MBA jointly awarded by London School of Economics and Political Science, New York University Stern School of Business and HEC Paris. She is a Chartered Islamic Finance Professional conferred by the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals where is she a Grand Council Member and Member of Professional Education and Academic Committee. Azleena is in the Top 25 Most Influential Women in Islamic Finance by UK-based Cambridge-i for two years running.
Matthew Joseph Martin
Founder & CEO
Blossom Finance
Matthew is a pioneer in the application of FinTech for Islamicfinance. Combining his passion for Islamic finance with his deep financial technology background, Matthew founded Blossom Finance in 2014 which aims to increase the availability and inclusivity of Islamic finance using blockchain.
Matthew’s background includes product management,engineering, and UX design experience in the e-wallet, payment
card, money remittance, mobile payments, and mobile banking sectors at venture capital funded, international tech startups Xoom, Boku, and Monitise. He has advised technology startups on FinTech and blockchain, and spoken to international audiences in the Bahrain, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Qatar, UAE, and the USA.
Matthew has studied 8 languages and speaks Indonesian, Farsi, and French at an intermediate level in addition to his native English. Matthew embraced Islam in 2010 and currently lives in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Nik Emir Din
Country Head, Malaysia
Muslim Pro
Nik Emir Din is currently the Country Head for Muslim Pro’s Malaysia office, heading the overall operations and leading execution of growth objectives, business development efforts and marketing and partnership opportunities.Prior to Muslim Pro, Nik Emir spent 6 years in RHB Investment Bank where his last role was as a Senior Manager in Merger & Acquisitions, where he led numerous local and cross border M&A transactions across South East Asia. Before that, Nik Emir was part of RHB’s corporate finance and debt capital market practises in Singapore. Nik Emir started his career in Investments at Khazanah Nasional Berhad.
He has participated in numerous tech talks and digital conventions in the Islamic & Muslim Economy sectors as follows:
• ITB Asia: Connecting with Muslim travellers: Understand how their travel habits, requirements, and preferences affect tourism
• MIHAS: Tapping into the Muslim Consumer Potential
• IBFIM: Digital trends
Nik Emir has also appeared on interviews with the following TV, radio & print:
• New Straits Times
• Focus Malaysia
• Bernama
• Berita Harian
• The Edge
• Leaderonomics
• StarBiz
• Salaam
• BFM 89.9
Muslim Pro is the leading global mobile application for Muslims with 72 million users worldwide and used in more than 200 countries.Available on Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store, Muslim Pro is an all-in-one application for Muslims that offers comprehensive religious, lifestyle and community features. It features the mostaccurate prayer times, Qiblat directions, various translations and recitals of the Quran, Halal restaurant and mosque locators, Zakat calculator and a host of other useful features.
The application is among the top 10 highest grossing lifestyle applications in various countries globally, including Malaysia, Indonesia, France, USA, UK & Europe. While other Muslim applications exist in different markets, Muslim Pro stands out with its broad global footprint.Muslim Pro is the winner of the 2018 Islamic Economy Award for the category of “Media”. The Award ceremony took place on the 30th of October 2018, during the Global Islamic Economy Summitin Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.
Tunku Dato’ Kaiyisah Tunku Kamil Ikram
Founder
PrettySuci.com
YM Tunku Dato’ Kaiyisah is the Co Founder and owner of Prettysuci, the worlds’ leading halal beauty portal. She began her career in the field of Public Realtions. In 2012 she setup a grassroots movement focusing on making environmental awareness a savvy lifestyle for young Malaysians. Mikka Green opened the door for her to the be elected the first President of Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam (PEKA), an NGO advocating the preservation and
sustenance of natural resources.
With her background in PR and a Bachelors degree in Communications from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Tunku Kaiyisah was then recruited to set up the Sultan Ahmad Shah Environment Trust (SASET), helping boost its profile and raise funds for environmental projects around the state of Pahang. Both PEKA and SASET still run eco projects and activities pioneered by the ‘Emerald Girl’, while Tunku Kaiyisah moved on with other passion projects.
Prettysuci.com is currently Malaysia’s only halal beauty portal serving as a one stop shop for halal certified cosmetics and skincare. Their products can also be found in 5 Sephora stores nationwide. Tunku Kaiyisah is also the Director of Kalung Berkat, a family run organisation comprising of the young royals from the state of Pahang.
Amnah Shaari
CEO, Serunai Commerce & Founder
Global Halal Data Pool, Verify Halal & HADIC
Amnah Shaari is a passionate, accomplished and multi award winning International Business Consultant & Entrepreneur, who has helmed, nurtured and established numerous successful businesses, foreign direct investments and brands in Malaysia and within the region.
With over 35 years of experience as a CEO and Business consultant Amnah has played vital roles in bridging business and investment gaps between multinational blue chip establishments and their presence in ASEAN. She has established dialogues with all major foreign missions and associations in the country and they look to her to overcome hurdles or facilitate opportunities.
To date she has facilitated numerous mergers, acquisitions, advisory and studies that have resulted in over USD 150 million of foreign direct investment into Malaysia. She has spoken and been featured in numerous conferences and international media on her views and perspectives on female entrepreneurship, business automation, FDI, public policy advocacy, SME development & of late her achievement in developing the world’s first Global Halal Data Pool. She has achieved all the above as the CEO of Beyond Corporate Group Sdn Bhd (BCH), which she established in 1993. Since its establishment BCH has become the premiere business and corporate advisory centre housing and facilitating some of the world’s largest and well known brands and institutions. Its services range from migratory & orientation services, tax incentive advisory, risk mitigation, access to finance, conflict resolution, lobbying all the way to strategic advisory and market consultancy.
With a Masters Degree in International Relations (Peter Drucker Centre, Claremont University, California), B.A in Management and B.A in Political Science, Amnah’s insights into international business are keen, measured and always abreast of economic sentiments. In tandem she has mooted and brought about numerous public & private sector dialogues and engagements to facilitate and overcome investment & business barriers.
In 2009, Amnah setup Serunai Commerce Sdn Bhd to realise her vision of creating a connected and integrated Halal international trade platform. The world’s first Global Halal Data Pool (GHDP), Amnah’s brainchild, was then adopted by the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) an agency under the Ministry of International Trade & Commerce. Serunai Commerce was given the task to develop the platform. GHDP was launched in 2015, and is rapidly on its way of becoming the epicenter and facilitator of global Halal trade, as it bridges the gap between live accurate product data, supply chains and global standard adherence. GHDP was designed by Amnah to be inclusive and accessible to all communities all over the world, providing them the tools to sell their products globally.
On 26 May 2017, with the support and collaboration with JAKIM, Serunai Commerce launched Verify Halal App. The App is designed to empower consumers and retailers with the ability to instantly verify the Halal accreditation of the product by a simple scan of the barcode via their smartphone cameras. This empowering tool fuel consumer confidence and reduces the spread of disinformation on the integrity of Halal accreditation and most importantly increase the transparency and standing of Halal. Most recently Verify Halal was awarded the Gold Medal Award in conjunction with the Prime Minister’s Department Innovation Awards 2018. Finally, like all successful entrepreneurs and business leaders, she ensures that an equal part of her efforts are given to the less fortunate. She has adopted and plays an active role in an orphanage that houses and adopt over 140 abandoned children, and she actively supports and tries to create platforms and opportunities for single mothers living in rural areas.