Malaysia has introduced measures to ensure more women representation in the board of directors of public-listed companies during the tabling of Budget 2022.
Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz announced that it will be compulsory for all major companies to have one female director on their board by September 2022, and for all other listed companies by January 2023. “Women’s contributions to society as a whole cannot be denied and must be revered and strengthened. From the top 100 listed companies , only 25 per cent of their board of directors are women. There are still 252 companies under Bursa Malaysia that still have no women representation. “
In addition, RM5 million will go to Yayasan Pimpinan Wanita, or Female Leadership Foundation, to organise leadership and entrepreneurial programmes for women. He said these programmes are aimed at helping the women grow their business online and from home. For these efforts RM232 million will be allocated through the DanaNITA programme run by Majlis Amanah Rakyat and TekunNITA under Tekun Nasional.
Abrar A. Anwar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Malaysia said the Bank is heartened by the women empowerment agenda in the Budget. He said as the first financial institution in Malaysia to be globally certified for workplace gender equality, Standard Chartered welcomes the government’s allocation of MYR 230 million for women entrepreneurs through the Dananita Programme lift and drive greater economic participation of women entrepreneurs. He added that raising productivity and enhancing human capital amongst women are key to putting our economy back on track.
