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  • 1 year ago
Malaysia has just launched the first World Economic Forum-backed women’s economic accelerator in ASEAN — Wanita MyWira- designed to train and secure high-value jobs for 100,000 women in AI, green transition and digital sectors.
The accelerator also aligns directly with the ASEAN region’s push for inclusive economic resilience amidst slowing global growth.

On NIAGA Spotlight, Tehmina Kaoosji speaks with Nazrul Aziz, Group Chief Strategy Officer, TalentCorp and Nurul A’in Abdul Latif, Executive Chair, PWC Malaysia and Chair, 30% Club Malaysia to discuss key areas:

Creating fast-track entry pathways for women into AI, green energy and digital jobs
Embedding flexible work and childcare support models through TalentCorp’s policy enforcement
Linking training to mandatory employer placement targets to ensure real income mobility
Supporting re-entry of highly skilled women who left the workforce due to care responsibilities

Can Wanita MyWira shift Malaysia’s economic trajectory by closing the 22-point gender participation gap and unlocking billions in GDP? Tune in for this timely discussion!

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Transcript
00:00Hello and welcome to Nyaga Spotlight with me Tamina Kaosji. Nyaga Spotlight takes us through
00:12the weekend economic analysis and future affairs. Now today on analysis, our spotlight is on
00:18Malaysia's gender-powered economy. In a week dominated by regional summits and investment
00:24narratives, Malaysia has an opportunity to lead ASEAN by example with a gender-powered,
00:29inclusive economy amidst slowing global growth. Now in line with this, Malaysia just launched the
00:35Wanita Mai Wira Accelerator, backed by the World Economic Forum and led by Talent Corps, alongside
00:42key ministries and private sector partners. It aims to train 100,000 women for high-growth sectors in
00:49AI, green energy and digital services, positioning Malaysia as the first ASEAN country to operationalize
00:56WEF's global accelerator model at national scale. Now this also comes at a most pivotal moment.
01:03Malaysia's female labour force participation rate stands at roughly 56.2% compared to around
01:09roughly 78.4% for men. And a gap which, if closed, carries an estimated 26% potential gain in income
01:18per capita, according to the World Bank's reports. Now the IMF also further notes that women have
01:24already contributed up to 14% of Malaysia's GDP growth over the last decade. Clear evidence as well
01:31of gender inclusion as an economic strategy. Today we aim to examine how Wanita Mai Wira can
01:37potentially drive Malaysia towards its minimum 60% female labour force participation target by 2030,
01:44convert training into real income mobility, and establishing women as a central engine
01:50of national competitiveness and ASEAN leadership, measurable via GDP impact. Welcoming to the studios
01:57on that note, Nazrul Aziz, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Talent Corps, together with Nurul Ain Abdul Latif,
02:03Executive Chair, PWC Malaysia and Chair of the 30% Club Malaysia. A very good morning to the both of you.
02:09Thank you. Thank you, Damina. Thank you so much for being with us here today. So if I could get the
02:14conversation started, perhaps, Nazrul, by referring to you and let's talk a little bit more about
02:20Talent Corps' Good Track Record, which is basically a decade running programs like the Women's Career
02:26Comeback, Career Comeback Grant and Flexible Work Advisory. So how has that actually helped to build the
02:34the potential framework for the Wanita Mai Wira Accelerator? I mean, let me actually bring us back
02:42actually to how we started this accelerator project. Sure. So we started off with a Labour Minister
02:47meeting attended by our Minister way back in 2024 in Geneva. So at that point, actually, WF offered
02:56Malaysia actually to run an accelerator. We scanned across the accelerator to assess what would be the
03:04value of this accelerator for Malaysia. And some of the countries that we have looked across, one example
03:11is Japan. Japan, actually, when they started this accelerator, their problem statement was on
03:17gender wage gap. As an outcome of the accelerator, they then actually now legislate a gender wage gap
03:24reporting, which is now actually translated into an act there. And in addition to that, they also get
03:31actually more than 300 male CEOs to commit to this. So that's a game changer for Japan. And in Colombia,
03:38we have seen that they have legislated paternity leave, extended paternity leave, actually, after the
03:45accelerator. So we're thinking, okay, I mean, there's an outcome of this accelerator.
03:49In these two different markets. Yes. But before we decide on women, we actually have
03:53further discussion with Minister, what would be the key focus area that we want to look at?
03:59They are actually use unemployment, for example, or underemployment issue, for example. And also, we also
04:05raised about female labour force participation rate. And then finally, we land on female labour force
04:11participation rate, looking at how actually we can align it with the economy marini target of
04:18achieving female labour force participation rate at 60% by 2030. So that's how it started. And then
04:24there's a lot of conversation and discussion across this World Economic Forum. And we made it very clear
04:29that we don't want this actually to be just a gender focus accelerator. Because in our context,
04:36we are not looking at this as just as a gender issue, we are looking at this from an economic
04:42imperative. Understood. I mean, like you mentioned just now, how actually gender inclusivity actually
04:47contributes to the economic development. So we are looking at this from the economic perspective.
04:52Because for us, actually, talent matters. Talent will support the economic growth of the country.
04:58And of course, within the talent pool, there's an untapped talent pool, the female talent that we
05:04need to actually ensure that we optimize them. So that's how it started. Of course, you mentioned
05:09about the program that we had done earlier, the Career Comeback Program, Life at Work Award, for example.
05:16But what we want to move to another level is to transition program-centric to ecosystem-based.
05:24We want to address this from ecosystem perspective where connecting all these dots across, okay,
05:31the three focus area for this accelerator will be, number one, we are looking at scaling. But it's
05:37not just another scaling because everyone does scaling. But this scaling will be evidence-based scaling.
05:42We base this scaling on the foundation that we have built through our impact study of AI digital and green
05:50economy on our workforce. So they are emerging roles that we have identified. They are a lowly impacted
05:56role that we have identified, could be potentially filled by women. So what we are doing is actually
06:00we will then actually look at what will be the skill set that can allow women to pivot into this role
06:07and to make them more agile and flexible.
06:10Exactly. So I think it's very interesting that a lot has been informed not only by what gaps exist within
06:17Malaysia, but also trying to see how regional models apply. Exactly.
06:20So moving from there, Nasrul, if I could move into asking Nurul more about board-level accountability as well.
06:26Now, PWC Malaysia's recent work with boards shows that there is a little bit of skepticism still
06:32around gender diversity, despite lots of regulatory nudges. So are there any board-level mechanisms
06:38in your experience that you've seen to actually shift behavior of corporate culture,
06:44so that it is much more inclusive for women who are already eligible to take part at this level?
06:52The PWC corporate director survey in 2024 highlighted, you know, several, you know,
07:00interesting observations. It's, you know, 25% of board members we surveyed says that,
07:07yes, policy and regulation have actually helped nudge the gender diversity agenda. And I think this
07:14is proven by the statistics of having more than 30% on gender diversity on boards of the top 100
07:22public listed company. But interestingly, the statistics of the survey showed that almost half
07:30still were not very clear in terms of, you know, how gender diversity actually resulted in better
07:39business outcome. And I think that is where the problem is, you know, for me, as chair of the 30%
07:44club, we still need to convince board members that gender diversity does improve business performance.
07:52As you mentioned before, there are mechanisms which I've seen, which has, you know, which have
08:00helped with the agenda. But I think what we must remember is that, you know, it shouldn't just be
08:05a box-decking exercise. Even if you have a diverse board or a diverse senior management,
08:12you know, if it is not inclusive, you know, in substance, you will not get the diverse perspective
08:17of in the meeting. So, you know, I thought that, you know, some of the mechanisms which has worked in
08:25some companies, both local and global, having P&L-linked KPIs, at the end of the day, as a business,
08:32it's always business outcome. I think the second very important point, and this ensures that it is not
08:40just gender diversity now, but it is a lot more sustainable, is the incorporation of gender targets when
08:47we do succession planning. And thirdly, is the use of, you know, subcommittees to make sure that,
08:53you know, female board members or senior management are a lot more ready. So, if I can just elaborate
09:00in terms of the P&L-linked KPIs, you know, it may not be very prevalent here, but, you know, globally,
09:07we have seen gender diversity targets being set in tandem with growth in terms of result,
09:15and linked to senior management remuneration, right? And you know what, it actually, it reinforces the
09:22point that, you know, gender diversity is not standalone, but it actually benefits the whole
09:27organisation.
09:28Exactly. And that's the whole idea around it. And meanwhile, actually, coming from the WEF's
09:33Global Gender Gap Report 2025, Malaysia has actually increased our ranking from 146, we are on to 108.
09:40Very, very encouraging. We hope to perhaps potentially with success in to come from the
09:47Vanita Maivira Accelerator and support from partners to perhaps break that 100, you know,
09:52the top 100 globally. So, coming back into that, Cheyna's role. Now, the Accelerator's first-year ambition
09:59is pretty bold. Tell us more about how you envision it being operationalised now that, of course, the launch is
10:06behind us, and we're looking forward towards the frameworks that can hopefully be rolled out in tandem, too.
10:12So, that's right, we target three phases for Vanita Maivira. So, the first year, 2026,
10:20will be on the scaling side. We just need to get the scaling right first.
10:23This is not new for us because we have established an ecosystem called MyMahe Future Skills Talent Council,
10:31where we have established 18 sector councils comprising leaders from respective sector.
10:39So, they will decide right from what are the demands of the sector, what are the gaps,
10:46what will be the fulfilment required, and then who are the best provider for that fulfilment.
10:52Throughout this, actually, we then actually fund the scaling. And within this pool of talent,
11:00we have about 4,000. 1,006 are already women. So, means that we are already running it. What we are
11:07doing next, actually, with Vanita Maivira is actually to repurpose it and to make it more strategic to focus
11:13on the three domain areas, AI, digital, and green economy. So, the number, when we put that number,
11:19it was not just, I mean, a number that we simply plug from the air. It's a number that we have actually
11:25done. And the outcome of this MyMahe ecosystem is we have seen some increase of salary, about 10 to 15%
11:35from the first cohort of 400 of them. So, we actually track them. We assess where were they before and how
11:42much they are earning now. So, that's an increase of 10 to 15% across. So, we will build Vanita
11:48Maivira skilling based on that. So, in addition to that, we need to tie with a proper and structured
11:54framework of return sheet also for those who are already on career break. So, there's another approach
11:59that we will develop, co-develop a framework throughout this accelerator that we will then actually structure
12:06a proper return sheet program. So, rather than just simply telling the company to take back, so we will
12:12then actually work together with the company to develop an accepted, an industry accepted framework for
12:17return sheet. So, that's our target. So, coming to the second phase will be the scaling up of this
12:24accelerator up to state level. This is where actually we get the number. That's why next year will be very
12:29critical because once actually the accelerator get the right model, it's time for us actually to go to the state level.
12:35The state level will be the number that we are going to scale it up, about 30,000, 40,000. And we do hope that by
12:422030, we are going to reach 100,000. So, hopefully, after that, once everything has been formed up, then we then
12:48translate it into a strategic statement together with Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development
12:55within the RMK, the upcoming RMK, RMK 14.
12:59Exactly. Because it's also about not just the trainings, but then achieving a placement goal as well for the women who have the training.
13:05So, that's why we get 1,000 companies also to be part of this accelerator.
13:08Exactly.
13:09To commit on adopting FWA, work-life practices, as well as internship.
13:15And like Nurul mentioned just now, we really need to link it to the P&L so that actually it becomes like a business decision.
13:25You are not able to retain talent its cost for you. So, I mean, those things that we are working together with the companies.
13:32Exactly. And that makes us, brings us perfectly to segue into what PWC has been doing.
13:37And in your experience, Nurul, when it comes to designing work around life, but not so much the other way around,
13:44PWC has, of course, implemented for a while now family-friendly as well as flexible provisions.
13:49In your experience, which specific flexible work designs are actually the ones which help to improve women's retention
13:58as well as progression once they are back within the workforce?
14:02Sure.
14:03So, we introduced the FLEX program more than 10 years ago and it was done in stages because, you know, we need to assess whether it has impact to the business.
14:12Sure.
14:13It has impact to client service delivery and impact to the people within.
14:19So, you know, what we found as it relates to retention and progression is there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
14:29And, you know, you know, for women, for example, the needs and challenges differs over their career journey.
14:37And I think, you know, the most impactful initiative is the one which are low-hanging fruit.
14:44So, you know, I feel what was very popular and what actually helped was the FLEX time initiative.
14:52It means that there's a lot of flexibility in terms of when you come into work, when you clock out.
14:57And, you know, it's very useful to, you know, an employee who has, you know, just started having a family, you know, dropping off children to school, picking them up from nursery.
15:09So, that was very popular and it was both a recruitment tool because it attracted many of our young graduates as well as a retention tool.
15:19I think the other one which, you know, I felt, you know, I enjoyed it a lot personally is FLEX space.
15:25It means that you can work wherever you are as long as your work is done.
15:29Right.
15:29It can be at home, it can be in a cafe, it can be in the office or your client's place.
15:34And it actually empowers people to manage their time a lot better with their teams.
15:40So, there were many other initiatives I thought, you know, I could share where, you know, for returning mothers, for example, we have the reduced work program.
15:52You work three days a week, obviously salary will be a portion.
15:56You may take a bit longer to get a promotion, but there are some people who have benefited from having those kind of program.
16:03That's right.
16:04Managing, especially during the time when a family is in its early growth stages.
16:08So, all of that makes so much sense, particularly, Nasrul, as Talent Corps was also behind this entire framework and guidelines and now also runs the FWA at Workplace Advisory.
16:18So, through the Wanita MyWira Accelerator, tell us about what the idea is about translating what the FWA models have shown us in so far and then trying to apply it for, in particular, Malaysian industries, SMEs, those who face very specific sector challenges for implementing what can be seen as very beneficial for a large corporation, but may not make that much economic sense in the immediate term for them.
16:48I understand.
16:49I mean, it's not easy because, I mean, when we started all this, among the JLCs and MNCs, I mean, it's there.
16:57But the bigger challenge will be on the SME side.
17:00So, that will be the space that we are going to attack and target.
17:02We need to work closely with SMEs, actually, how actually we can actually collaboratively create a conducive environment that will be able to retain women in the workforce.
17:14For example, in every 10 Malaysians, 5 will be working with SMEs.
17:18So, addressing this from SME perspective will be very, very crucial.
17:23Very, very crucial.
17:24So, that's why when you ask about life at work and then you ask about the Aturan Kerja Flexible that, I mean, the garis panduan that we have introduced together with Jabatan Tenaga Kerja,
17:36it needs to be an ecosystem.
17:40That's why we are actually connecting all these dots together under this accelerator.
17:46As I mentioned earlier, scaling is one part of it, but we know that, I mean, no matter how good we are in scaling this woman,
17:53at the end of the day, if the workplace and the work itself is not enabling, then it won't work.
17:59So, that's how actually we are working with companies, actually, to, I mean, the 1,000 companies to really drive these changes.
18:06And these companies will range from, right, from the top and from the top, the MNC GLCs, up to the SMEs.
18:14And we believe that we have all this pool of companies that we have engaged with through our Life at Work Award.
18:21There's a lot of companies, actually, part of the ecosystem through our Lawa.
18:25And, in fact, yesterday was our 10th anniversary of Lawa.
18:29That's right.
18:30So, last night, we celebrated Lawa.
18:33So, at the end of the day, it is all about the ecosystem.
18:38So, our concern is actually we are focusing too much on program verticals.
18:42So, it's now about working horizontally and bring everything together.
18:46Streamlining everything together.
18:47Because it's interrelated to each other.
18:50So, if you ask me what the accelerator will do, it's not that we have not done this before.
18:54We have done it.
18:56But the point is, actually, we are using this accelerator as a platform for us to connect and bring everyone together.
19:01So, let's address this as an ecosystem.
19:04Exactly.
19:05And I think this is going to be particularly important for those mid-sized companies.
19:09So, that they are able to not just participate in the accelerator, but also meet all the preconditions.
19:15That's right.
19:16Nurul, I would love to ask you about looking at indicators, right, for every employer, potentially, who wants to participate in the accelerator.
19:25What type of indicators should they be reporting so that we are very finite about the parameters that they are meeting when it comes to accountability and leadership transparency?
19:36Transparency generates accountability and, you know, it's very important that it's not just having an indicator, but it has to be monitored and reported.
19:46So, the indicators would need to, I feel, cover a couple of key principles.
19:53One, representation of a woman in the workforce and some of the indicators which I feel, you know, is quite easily sort of reported and, you know, data determined is in terms of number of women in the workforce.
20:08And this shouldn't just be looked at, you know, as a blended number.
20:12I think what also is important is to sort of drill down.
20:16It could be by levels.
20:18Like in PwC, we look at different levels.
20:22The more junior levels, manager levels and the more senior levels because, you know, the ratios, you know, you'll see that it is very different.
20:29Oh, yes, especially C-suite, right?
20:31In the granular way, I think it's not only just representation, statistics in a point in time.
20:38What is also more important is to keep them, retention.
20:41Sure.
20:42And, you know, there are a number of ratios which you'd be able to use to assess the retention of women along their career journey.
20:52And, you know, this could be looking at hiring and turnover rate at different level.
20:56And, you know, I have seen companies where, you know, to make sure that, you know, all departments, you know, not all the females are skewed to one department.
21:06I think they actually drill it down by department.
21:10I think thirdly, yeah, you retain the people, you retain the female workers.
21:15What also is important to make sure that we have a good pipeline of senior leaders is the advancement opportunity.
21:22So, the ratio which we have used is looking at percentage of promotion, you know, within the workforce.
21:32And this could also be compared with the proportion to the women talent pool.
21:37So, at the end of the day, I think these are good KPIs, you know, but, you know, many times it's like, yes, I meet or I don't meet the KPI.
21:46What happens?
21:47So, there has to be consequences.
21:48Consequence is very important.
21:50I think senior management or the board need to assess, you know, why are targets not made?
21:57Because these could be data points to see what should be done to make it better.
22:02And consequent management will include not just diversity target.
22:07What is also very important is inclusion, right?
22:10And this has to be monitored and reported and it should be part of the formal performance review.
22:16Absolutely, because all of this is actually part of the minimum threshold which can actually drive workplace transformation, which ideally is what you're also looking at.
22:27Nashul, you had mentioned briefly earlier about the Life at Work Awards, the Lawa Awards.
22:32So, that has also become a reputational lever amongst the Malaysian ecosystem for DEI and flexible work excellence.
22:39How can Malaysia perhaps use the accelerator now to prototype a little bit more of a data-driven, evidence-based approach?
22:48As I mentioned just now, Semina, when we started this accelerator, we started with the premise that, okay, we have done a lot of things, but we not necessarily know everything.
22:59So, there's a lot of data points that we have collected, including from Lawa.
23:03So, the whole idea is to bring all this data together, crunch it and then find a collective solution towards it.
23:10So, Lawa has been there for 10 years. There's a lot of data points behind Lawa. There's a lot of best practices.
23:15For example, we are a mini-world economic forum, I would say, in the context of DEI because the reason why we joined this accelerator partly is also, apart from WEF providing us with the methodology to run this accelerator,
23:28they also provide us to access to the accelerator network so that we can learn from other countries.
23:33Similarly, for Lawa, it's something that we can actually emulate where actually companies actually can learn from each other across, right?
23:40From the SMEs, learning from the GLCs, MNCs, MNCs, learning across, and I believe maybe there are certain things that MNCs, GLCs also can learn from the SMEs.
23:49So, what we'll do is we'll bring all these Lawa inputs and data points into this accelerator and how you want to enable a workplace that is actually feasible for us to drive the agenda of female-level force participation rate 60% by 2030.
24:01So, that's something that we are, how actually we are going to bring Lawa in this accelerator.
24:07So, because, I mean, all the data points actually is there. It's something that we will actually use it more effectively and optimising.
24:14And when you say using it more effectively and optimising, would there be a move towards moving from pledges into perhaps verified outcomes for accelerator-tied mandate?
24:25Definitely, with the companies who are part of the accelerator, there'll be a proper tracker based on the three components, the skilling part, the retention part, as well as the implementation of the flexible working arrangement or work lab practices.
24:39So, we'll properly track whether there's correlation between the implementation of flexible working arrangement, for example, with the retention of the woman, for example.
24:46So, we need to do this. In fact, for your permission, we are currently assessing and we are doing an impact study of the implementation of the CSTP and CSTK Flexible Working Arrangement Underemployment Act.
24:59So, we are looking at how effective, because we introduced it, the customer introduced it in 2023.
25:06So, we have actually now actually two years. So, we are looking at how actually this CSTP and CSTQ actually really impact the workforce.
25:15So, we are assessing it. It will be completed by end of this year. So, that will also be another input for the accelerator.
25:21So, there are many inputs that we are working on parallelly that will be actually going into the accelerator.
25:27Absolutely. So, all of that sounds like a very dynamic sort of an ecosystem, which is taking into fact a lot of very recent data.
25:36Because when you talk about 2023 onwards, that's actually also post-pandemic work from home orders and also seeing which companies were quite resilient in adopting it and which ones were still trying to find their feet.
25:49So, as we move towards closing out the conversation, Nurul, perhaps I could ask you about looking at change programs for inclusion.
25:58Now, PwC's hopes and fears data is showing that Malaysian workers do, in general, feel overwhelmed by constant changes, right?
26:07So, tell us a little bit more around this.
26:09Well, the survey showed that a big majority, 75% of the people surveyed are saying that they have encountered so much change in that particular year in 2024 compared to 12 months prior.
26:26And I think women are most impacted because they are overrepresented in sectors where automation is a risk.
26:37Generative AI is really impacting them.
26:39And, you know, I think in some places, maybe not all, you know, the opportunity in terms of, you know, development programs, upskilling may be a bit limited for female.
26:50So, what I would suggest, and this is what we also do in PwC is, you know, for a leader to implement your change program, I think couple of points.
26:58Looking at skills and visibility of female employees, I think if you have a bite-sized, very short upskilling program for relevant skills, I think that would work wonders for female employees because it sort of opens up that opportunity for them.
27:18What is also very important is, you may, you know, upskill them, you may give them the tool, but I think in terms of the environment of the workforce, I think that also has to be looked at.
27:31So, psychological safety is an element which will, you know, which will, you know, make people embrace any change.
27:38Making sure that, you know, the organization, it is safe to, you know, speak your view and have open dialogues with your team members.
27:46I think the third very important element is, you know, the culture itself, yeah, culture is very important.
27:55You know, the policy may say that, oh, we are very open and inclusive, but, you know, the leaders actually embrace that, right?
28:03And what kind of, what can you put in place perhaps, Norul, as maybe early warning metrics, let's say, so that companies and organizations can also act on it
28:14in case they are also new to wanting to adopt all of this kind of inclusivity.
28:19Okay. So, organizations normally have their annual employee survey.
28:24Sure.
28:24And I think we should look out for the statistics for questions, for example, you know, what, you know, your sense of belonging in the organization
28:34or, you know, issues with team members or unconscious bias because, you know, any declining statistics
28:43statistics would give you an indicator that there's something wrong.
28:46Aside from that, you know, you don't rely only on annual surveys.
28:50The KPIs, which, you know, I mentioned just now, that should be tracked regularly.
28:54And if you see a decline in score or statistics, which is, you know, an outlier, I think that's where, you know, we need to be ready to assess,
29:04oh, you know, what is the temperature out there in the, you know, in the workspace.
29:08Absolutely. So, Naurul, as well as, Naurul, thank you so much for the fantastic conversation.
29:15And in closing, Wanita Mayweera is a litmus test for how serious Malaysia is about the gender-powered economic transformation model.
29:22The outcomes will be measured by hopefully how many women enter high-value sectors,
29:26their earnings shifting income distribution, and how widely the private sector is also able to adopt structural reform
29:32instead of merely symbolic compliance.
29:35If gender participation rises, productivity rises, and if it stalls, so does competitiveness.
29:41This is a strategic agenda, and the window to act is now.
29:44I'm Tamina Kausji signing off for now. Here's to a productive week ahead.

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