Malaysian rural development and the achievement of the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) micro-credit scheme: An appraisal

The Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) micro-credit scheme is a Malaysian NGO which had replicated the Grameen Bank micro-credit model since 1987. Given the 24 year experience of operating the model, this paper evaluates the AIM performance in terms of (i) expansion of organisational branches, (ii) membership reach and the volume of capital disbursed (iii) loan products, and (iv) participants‘ economic performance. It was found that even as the success and sustainability of the AIM had a lot to do with the government’s initial financial support, the AIM micro-credit scheme had proven itself capable of complementing the government‘s overall rural development programme. This was because the AIM was practically advancing a key mission underlying the state‘s New Economic Policy, the National Development Policy, and the National Vision Policy, namely, crusading against poverty. The AIM micro-credit scheme had proven highly effective in eradicating rural poverty throughout the country.