PMX Announces RM50m Hasanah Special Grant Matching Fund Programme

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 22 June 2023 – YAB Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim called on social impact leaders to be key contributors to Malaysia MADANI and on Government Linked Companies (GLCs) and corporate Malaysia to be more open to innovative forms of funding for Social Enterprises (SEs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to encourage innovation in the social impact sector.

“Building a more just and equitable world requires collective efforts from individuals, communities, government and organisations; it requires implementing policies and initiatives that challenge systemic barriers and biases that perpetuate injustice,” he said. “It is important that philanthropy moves beyond charity and becomes a key mechanism that supports social justice by addressing the root causes.”

The Prime Minister delivered this call-to-action in his closing keynote address read by Minister of Women, Family and Community Development YB Dato’ Sri Nancy Shukri at The Hasanah Forum and Asia Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) Global Conference (THF x AVPN) 2023. The recently concluded premier social impact event was co-hosted by Yayasan Hasanah (Hasanah), the Foundation of Khazanah Nasional along with AVPN; bringing together 1,200 international delegates to Kuala Lumpur over three days with another 1,000 virtual attendees on livestream via thf.yayasanhasanah.org.

In his remarks, YAB PM also announced the RM50mn in matching grant to Yayasan Hasanah allocated via National Budget 2023 under the Hasanah Special Grant. In its fourth year running, the Ministry of Finance and Hasanah collaborates to disburse grants that support social impact programmes across Malaysia in Education, Community Development, Environment, Knowledge, and Arts and Public Spaces.

From 2020 to 2022, Hasanah Special Grants worth RM95 million resulted in on-ground support being channelled to 258 civil society partners running 315 social impact programmes benefitting more than 2 million people across the country.
Of the RM50 million, RM10 million has been earmarked for organisational development grants for accredited Malaysian SEs under the Hasanah Social Enterprise Fund (HSEF) – up from RM5 million that was disbursed in 2022 during the first year of HSEF. Applications for HSEF 2023 are set to open next month.