Bringing women to the fore - The Star

May 23, 2015

PUTRAJAYA: There are now 900 fully-qualified women offering their expertise to the private sector, including public-listed companies.

These women are the product of the Women Entrepreneurship and Professional Development Advisor Office (KIW), an entity at the Prime Minister’s Department.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said their talents should not be left untapped.

“They have the potential to sit in the board of directors and I hope the private sector, which includes public-listed companies, could consider them,” he said at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the office and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia at the Prime Minister’s Office here yesterday.

The MoU was signed to take women professionals and entrepreneurs to a higher level through a better and innovative concept.

The KIW was represented by its adviser Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and UKM by vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Noor Azlan Ghazali. Also present was Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Najib said having more women in the private sector’s top management would boost efforts for a stronger female presence at that level.

“We have exceeded the target of seeing 30% women in the public sector’s top level. We are now focusing on doing the same in the private sector,” he said.