The Bank channeled funding towards social enterprise SURI Inspirasi through BNM’s iTEKAD program, supporting underserved

single mothers to grow their businesses and progress towards financial self-sustainability.

Dafinah Ahmed Hilmi, CEO of HLB Islamic [center] presenting the sewing machines to graduating entrepreneurs of

SURI’s SRI program at the SURI Kilim Hub in Langkawi, Kedah.

 

KUALA LUMPUR, 21 SEPTEMBER 2026 - Aligned with its commitment to deepening its value-based intermediation (“VBI”) ecosystem, HLB Islamic (or the “Bank”) has channeled RM138,600 in social financing towards social enterprise SURI Inspirasi ("SURI") under Bank Negara Malaysia's (“BNM”) iTEKAD framework, which has led to a 94% average surge in monthly income and over RM14,000 in total new earnings for participating entrepreneurs of SURI’s Sustainable Reliable Income (“SRI”) programme.

 

The SRI program empowers underserved communities to upcycle discarded fabrics into unique fashion items, creating sustainable jobs and encouraging entrepreneurship while promoting zero-waste fashion and community empowerment. As part of the program, the participating entrepreneurs, predominantly underserved single mothers, produced 1,000 school uniforms for students across five schools in Langkawi, generating RM30,000 in savings for local families.

 

HLB Islamic commemorated the milestone through the handover of high-grade sewing machines to the participating entrepreneurs, marking the transition from classroom learning to active enterprise ownership.

 

According to Dafinah Ahmed Hilmi, CEO of HLB Islamic, "Our vision of financial stewardship is grounded in our Hayat @ HLB Islamic framework, which views wealth building as a purposeful journey across life stages, starting with Wealth Creation. Through our partnership with SURI, we are providing the community with the essential tools and training to unlock their entrepreneurial potential, and we hope this will catalyze a lifelong trajectory of building wealth towards financial independence that will enrich the community for generations to come.” 

 

This success marks a significant milestone in HLB Islamic’s ongoing collaboration with SURI, who first entered the Bank’s ecosystem as a participant of the HLB Jumpstart initiative. Launched to incubate high-impact Malaysian social enterprises through commercial mentorship, branding, and digital capacity building, HLB Jumpstart provided SURI with the early framework to scale its operations, illustrating the Bank's long-term strategy of nurturing social ventures into self-sustaining implementation partners capable of delivering widespread impact.

 

For more information on HLB’s collaboration with SURI, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q10TX7yfwrM