Percentage of women on Bursa Malaysia’s top 100 companies at 19.1%

Club Advisory Co Chair Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin said while more diverse boards would lead to stronger business performance, the pace of change in Malaysia had not been as fast as the government had hoped.

KUALA LUMPUR: The percentage of women on the boards of Bursa Malaysia’s top 100 public listed companies has increased to 19.1% as at end-September 2017, said the 30% Club Malaysia.

The 30% Club Malaysia, a business group campaigning for more female directors on company boards, said only 95 out of 928 listed companies have achieved 30% women board representation, while 372 companies do not have any women on their boards.

Club advisory co chair Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin said while more diverse boards would lead to stronger business performance, the pace of change in Malaysia had not been as fast as the government had hoped.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had said that public-listed companies with no women on their boards from 2018 would be named and shamed and risk losing out on government contracts, she said in a statement today.

Another co-founding chair, Anne Abraham said with the government’s conviction, there were chances Malaysia would reach the 30% target by 2020, through the participation of public and private learning enterprises, corporate boards, and a pool of qualified women.

The third series of the Business Leaders Roundtable meeting held recently also discussed specific challenges in engaging women directors and explored avenues for resolving them.

The inventory of challenges presented at the roundtables thus far included difficulties in sourcing for board-ready women directors or for those with specific skills, and the limited profiling of potential women directors,” she said.

Since its launch in Malaysia in May 2015, the 30% Club has taken a frontline role in bridging the supply of and demand for women directors, leveraging partner programmes such as women development and mentorship programmes.- Bernama