Malaysia leads Asean in women participation on boards

KUALA LUMPUR: The participation of Malaysian women on the boards of public listed companies (PLCs) stood at 15.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2018, putting Malaysia in the lead among Asean countries.

As for the top 100 companies, the percentage was higher at 23.2 per cent, said 30% Club Malaysia Founding Chairman Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar.

She said when the club was established in 2015, 17 Malaysian PLCs, out of the top 100 companies, did not have a single woman on their board.

Today, only one company has zero women participation on its board of directors, she said at an event to celebrate its cross-sector mentoring programme, graced by Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, Hannah Yeoh.

Zarinah said large market cap companies have been the focus of the club in the last two years, in its bid to make Malaysia the first Asean country to reach 30 per cent women on boards of directors by 2020.

To realise the goal, 30% Club Malaysia has embarked on various initiatives, including a mentoring programme launched in July 2017 to identify and prepare qualified women for board directorship.

"The mentoring serves as a pipeline effort as we hope that through the networking provided by the mentors, we will raise the profile of our women mentees and expose them to the opportunities to be included in the selection process for board seats," she said.