Philippines MRI CARD Visits Dhuafa Wallet And BMT Tamzis: Strengthen Synergy Islamic Finances In Southeast Asia

JAKARTA A total of 14 delegates from CARD MRI, a non-governmental organization (NGO) oriented to poverty alleviation from the Philippines made a study visit on the implementation of Islamic finance on August 19, 2024. This program is also the 8th visit in collaboration with BMT Tamzis and IMZ.

This program is a cross-border collaboration in the context of sharia economic socialization and expansion of the sharia financial business in Southeast Asia. With the Dhuafa Jogja Wallet and TAMZIS BMT programs, it has succeeded in being an inspiration and encouraging the initiation of Sharia Bank CARDS units in the Philippines.

While in Yogyakarta, the CARD MRI delegation learned about sharia contracts ranging from mudharabah, musyarakah, Kafalah, murabahah and takaful. And do an education to Aloe Land which is a Social Enterprise program based on educational tourism villages fostered by Dompet Dhuafa Yogyakarta.

Head of Yogyakarta Region Muhammad Zahron in his speech said that Yogyakarta as a city of culture, a city of environmentally friendly, and a city full of local wisdom, which is always guarded by its citizens, is very open to anyone who wants to learn.

In addition, Yogyakarta is also referred to as a city full of creativity and inspiration, so it is not surprising that when Parni Hadi, who in 1993 became the director of the Republic, was inspired to initiate the humanitarian agency Dompet Dhuafa.

In 2006 Dompet Dhuafa opened a branch in Yogyakarta, the opening of this branch accompanied the rise of Yogyakarta from the impact of an earthquake measuring 5.7 on a richter scale, together with the people of Dompet Dhuafa to rebuild houses, schools, public facilities and build the economy, education, health, and even local wisdom culture.

Zahron also added that in 1994 Dompet Dhuafa provided initial capital for several Islamic microfinance institutions, one of which was BMT Beringharjo. The initial capital is IDR 1 million, now the value of the assets owned has reached more than IDR 200 billion, an achievement that can be achieved from persistence in optimizing zakat, infaq, alms and waqf funds.

Jeffrey M Rondina, Executive Vice President of Bank CARD Philippines in his speech said that the development of six months of operation since opening Sharia Branches in their banking management in January 2024, has generated revenue of 11,000 USD. Our management and director are very impressed by the performance achievements we have achieved. We express our deepest gratitude to Dompet Dhuafa and Tamzis for their continuous support in guiding us in establishing operational guidelines for sharia financing," said Jefrey in a written statement received by VOI.

In addition, we are quite lucky because the regulators in our country the Philippines are very supportive of this. Now we are back here not only to validate the implementation of our sharia operations in the Philippines, and also to learn new things and new developments regarding Sharia Financing according to the new Tamzis Easy and Blessing Sharia Economy theme.

Ketua KSPPS Tamzis Bina Utama Saat Suharto dalam kesempatan tersbut juga menyampaikan selamat atas didiri Bank CARD branch Syariah di Filipina. Semoga dengan didiri bank syariah ini dapat diterima oleh seluruh masyarakat Filipina," katanya.

Saat menyampaikan bahwa lembaga keuangan yang menggunakan asas usury yang hukumnya haram dan dilarang oleh Islam. Oleh karena itu keluarga kami berinisiat untuk membentuk sebuah lembaga keuangan dengan asas sharia pada tahun 1992 yang lalu, jelas Saat Suharto, Ketua KSPPS Tamzis Bina Utama dalam sambutannya.

"Hopefully in the future the Sharia Bank CARD unit will continue to grow, develop the next branch of the branch so that the Islamic financial market will continue to grow and expand, the value of the Islamic value is increasingly accepted and implemented," hoped Saat.