GC2025 Insights: Catalysing Asia’s Finance for People and Planet

Why It Matters

The roadmap shows how Asia can leverage deep savings and Islamic finance to fund climate‑resilient projects, offering investors scalable impact opportunities while ensuring inclusive, long‑term prosperity.

Key Takeaways

• Asia must shift from industrial policy to industrial co‑creation.
• Long‑term, Islamic finance can unlock massive blended‑capital for climate.
• ASEAN’s $5 trillion GDP and young population drive resilient growth.
• Digital tools enable inclusive credit for micro‑entrepreneurs and productivity.
• Regional platforms like AVPN catalyze cross‑sector collaboration and scaling.

Summary

The keynote delivered by Governor Tat Rashid at AVPN Global 2025 outlined a roadmap for mobilising Asia’s finance to power inclusive, resilient, and sustainable growth. He framed the challenge as moving from traditional industrial policy to “industrial co‑creation,” where governments, corporates, financiers, technology providers and communities jointly design ecosystem solutions.

Rashid highlighted three structural advantages: the region’s shifting economic gravity, with ASEAN poised to become a $5 trillion economy; a deep pool of long‑term capital, especially Islamic finance that offers patient risk‑sharing mechanisms; and a cultural orientation toward collective responsibility that can be harnessed for impact. Digital innovations—e‑KYC, open‑data protocols, AI‑driven risk models—are already expanding credit access to informal workers.

Concrete examples reinforced his points: ASEAN’s per‑capita electricity use sits at 3,500 kWh, far below the 6,000 kWh benchmark, underscoring the need for a greener power grid. Malaysia’s “I‑TAKE” program blended grants, zakat, and training to lift over 9,000 micro‑entrepreneurs into formal markets. New labs such as the Climate Finance Lab and the Greening Value‑Chain initiative illustrate the emerging industrial co‑creation model.

The implications are clear: unlocking blended finance at scale can fund climate‑resilient infrastructure, while inclusive digital platforms can channel capital to productive, low‑income enterprises. For investors, Asia’s high savings rate, mature Islamic finance ecosystem, and youthful consumer base present a compelling, high‑impact investment frontier that aligns profit with planetary stewardship.

Original Description

In the following episodes, we bring you insights from this year’s AVPN Global Conference (“GC2025”), held September 9-11 in Hong Kong. There will be episodes highlighting thought leadership from prominent speakers. This includes snippets from speeches and special features of our speakers on Impact Investing Day (September 10).

In this episode, Dato’ Sri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour, Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, shares his keynote on “Catalysing Asia’s Finance for People and Planet”. He reflects on where Asia stands in the Asian Century and what it will take for the region to build prosperity “without regret” - growth that is inclusive, resilient, and sustainable. Drawing on ASEAN’s momentum, the region’s deep pools of long-term and Islamic capital, and the need for stronger ecosystems and enabling platforms, he outlines how Asia can mobilise finance to meet today’s development and climate challenges.

Listeners will gain insights into:

• How Asia’s economic gravity is shifting east, and why ASEAN is becoming a resilient and strategic growth engine

• Why Asia’s long-term capital - pension systems, sovereign wealth, and Islamic finance - offers a strong foundation for financing sustainable development

• How inclusive productivity platforms and ecosystem-based approaches can help scale impact across the region