Women as decision makers in civil sectors exceeds target - Najib

Datuk Seri Najib Razak said women's involvement at the decision-making level in the civil sector as of last June had reached 33 percent.

The prime minister said the figure exceeded the target of 30 percent set by the government, proving its seriousness in attaining the objective.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said in the private sector, women's involvement at the decision-making level during the same period was only 15 percent.

"I urge the corporate sector to show full commitment and take appropriate measures to increase the percentage," he said in his speech at the National Women's Day 2015 celebrations here today.

Najib said the minimum percentage of 30 percent for women's involvement at the decision-making level in the public and private sectors was among the initiatives taken by the government to improve the standard of women in the country so that they could succeed.

Najib also urged the Malaysian Securities Commission to provide the diversity index, which among others, contained the percentage of women in the private sector.

"This is important so that we know which corporation has achieved or not the target of 30 percent women's involvement," he said.

Other initiatives implemented by the government in empowering women in the country include providing RM2.26 billion to the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development in the 2015 Budget to assist and increase women's contributions to national development.

Najib said he hoped more women's voluntary bodies such as the Perwani 1 Malaysia Community would be formed as agents of transformation to assist people at the grassroots level.

At the same time, he said, these groups helped the government ensure that women development agendas remained the main agenda of the country.

The prime minister said that these initiatives included the appointment of three women ministers and seven women deputy ministers.

"God willing, we will consider increasing the number from time to time, but these should be based on merit," he added.