Malaysia’s First MySDG Fund to Facilitate The Nation’s Sustainable Development Agenda

The Malaysia Sustainable Development Goals Trust Fund (MySDG Fund) was launched by the Hon. Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today, to facilitate the nation's sustainable development agenda. The Hon. Prime Minister also announced the establishment of the Malaysia Sustainable Development Goals Foundation (MySDG Foundation), which will administer the MySDG Fund.

The establishment of both the Foundation and the Trust Fund represents a collaboration between the Government of Malaysia through the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the United Nations (UN) in Malaysia. This ground-breaking collaboration is an innovative model to support sustainable development in line with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN 2030 Agenda), prescribing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were agreed upon by the UN member states during the Sustainable Development Summit in 2015. The collaboration reflects the Government’s continuous commitment to ensure a sustainable and inclusive development by integrating such principles in Malaysia’s national development plans and policies.

The MySDG Trust Fund is a multi-donor mechanism to enable different parties – including the Government, the private sector, corporate bodies, entities within and outside Malaysia, as well as individuals – to collaborate in achieving the SDGs, in the spirit of the collective and a whole-of-nation Keluarga Malaysia approach. The fund will be deployed in a systematic and integrated manner to finance, support and complement the Government’s SDG-focused programmes and projects throughout Malaysia. This includes funding projects and innovative solutions championed by NGOs, CSOs, UN agencies and other developmental organisations.

As announced in the 2021 Budget, the Government has allocated a total of RM20 million as initial contribution to the MySDG Trust Fund. The RM20-million allocation is part of Malaysia’s five-year national development plans, which provides the overarching policy framework for Malaysia to achieve the SDGs in the medium- and long- term.

This strategic collaboration between the Government of Malaysia and the UN, which has extensive experience and expertise in the implementation of similar arrangements around the world, is aimed at accelerating the nation’s sustainable development efforts. The MySDG Fund will also be jointly administered by the MOF and the UN Office in Malaysia. It will be supervised by a Board of Trustees whose members are appointed from among industry experts, philanthropists and senior Government officials.

In the immediate term, the MySDG Trust Fund will be geared towards funding projects to build back better from the Covid-19 pandemic, and towards the preservation of Malaysia’s natural environment and its biodiversity. Subsequently, the scope of programmes and projects under this fund will be expanded for other SDG-related projects. Ultimately, all these initiatives will complement the Government's efforts to revive the economy and develop the rakyat’s sustainable well -being.

Once the donor mechanism is established by the MySDG Foundation, parties within and outside Malaysia can begin contributing to the MySDG Trust Fund. All contributions will receive a full tax exemption of up to 10% of the donor’s aggregate income. For further information, please visit the MySDG Foundation website at https://www.mof.gov.my/portal/en/mysdg.

Ministry of Finance & UN Office, Malaysia
27 January 2022