Dr Wan Azizah (second right) officiates at the Pelitawanis conference. — Bernama photo
SUBANG JAYA: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry is in the process of setting up a Women Development Initiative to boost women’s competitiveness in the public and corporate sectors.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said through this initiative, women will be given training, encouragement and leadership skills to hold top management posts.
Dr Wan Azizah who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister said the initiative was in line with the government’s objective of encouraging 30 per cent women participation in decision-making posts.
“Women are now entrusted with decision-making posts, including as ministers, deputy ministers, Members of Parliament, Bank Negara governor, judges, secretary-generals, director-generals, vice-chancellors and other top posts which were previously monopolised by men.
“The government is very committed to mobilising the agenda for women development and empowerment so that they can contribute to economic growth, and improve their quality of life,” she said.
Dr Wan Azizah said this in her speech at the launch of the Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) Pelitawanis Conference 2018 with its theme of ‘Pioneering the Entrepreneurial World’ here yesterday.
However, she stressed that the top posts must be given based on merit and not merely to meet the quota.
She urged women who have the opportunity to attain the top posts to improve their performance and productivity in the effort to increase their numbers the decision-making levels.
Dr Wan Azizah said the findings of the Statistics Department for the third quarter of 2018 showed that women involvement in the manpower sector in Malaysia was at 55.5 per cent, with a total of 5.78 million women.
The statistics showed an increase of 0.8 per cent points from 54.7 per cent of women manpower participation in Malaysia last year.
She added that women participation in the business sector would see them contributing to the Gross Domestic Product which is a yardstick for the national economic growth. — Bernama