KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 ― The government has today proposed that Bursa Malaysia and the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) play the role as monitoring body in the implementation of diversity policy in leadership and top management for private companies.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said the move was needed to encourage more private companies to practise this policy in helping the government’s effort to attract more professionals to return to Malaysia.
He said in 2013, Talent Corporation Malaysia had succeeded in bringing 900 local professionals back to the country.
“From the survey that we carried out, we found that most companies (private) already have good diversity (policy) in terms of ethnicity, however, at the management level, the diversity can be improved.
“So, I hope that the private sector will give more opportunities to the Bumiputera, women and young generation in the effort to implement diversity at the management level,” he said to reporters after the closed-door dialogue session here between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and 50 corporate leaders from public listed companies and government-linked investment companies, organised by the SC and the Economic Planning Unit.
Abdul Wahid said private companies generally welcomed the policy and most of them had already practised the diversity.
Yet, he said, there were still companies who did not inform the government of its implementation.
“We want to encourage disclosure. We are aware that this diversity does not involve sex, but also ethnicity and age.
“For companies which practise the diversity policy, we find that they have achieved good performances like Axiata and Maybank. We encourage all companies to practise this policy,” he said.
Abdul Wahid said in future the dialogues would most probably be held twice a year with themes based on the period involved.
“We will get feedback from the corporate sector on the issues they want to raise at the coming meetings,” he said. ― Reuters
