‘Inclusiveness’ helping shape Malaysia’s economic, social landscape

SINGAPORE: It is proven that a government which adheres to “inclusiveness”, plays an instrumental role in shaping the economic and social landscape of a country.

It includes empowering women capabilities which can see an increase in the number of policy makers among them.

According to Korn Ferry’s Building Diversity in Asia Pacific Boardrooms latest study, Malaysia is the only country in it, to have implemented a target and provided active support for companies to reach the goal.

The comprehensive Asia Pacific study is the fourth in the Korn Ferry Diversity Scorecard series.

The study examined the 2014 annual reports of the largest 100 publicly listed companies in 10 Asia Pacific economies, namely Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea.

Most of the countries reviewed showed little or no improvement in gender diversity, with the exception of Malaysia, Australia, and India.

These three countries saw regulatory action or governmental support for promoting board diversity.

The government administrative policy helmed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has succeeded in increasing the number of policy makers among women, including at the decision making level.

The prime minister had set a 30 per cent target for women’s participation at this level in the public sector by 2009, while in the private sector, a similar goal was by 2016.