Malaysia to increase women in eorkforce to 55% by 2015

Malaysia plans to increase women in the workforce from 52.4% to 55% by 2015, a Bernama news report said Thursday. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Chief Executive Officer of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) Idris Jala said the government also wants to see the number of women in decision-making positions improve from 24% to 30% by 2016. Malaysia will add 2% to its gross domestic product by achieving these percentages according to a study, the minister told reporters at the launch of the Women in Leadership programme, here Thursday. “Greater inclusiveness through more women in leadership will support better performance and stronger governance of companies,” Idris said. Women currently make up 8.6% of listed company board members. The government’s move is in line with the Prime Minister’s recent clarion call to Malaysian corporates to focus more on diversity, not just at the board, but also in top management, the minister said.