NationThailand-Apr 28, 2024
Southeast Asia has made impressive progress in women’s representation on corporate boards, rising from 17.1% in 2021 to 19.9% in 2023, according to a recent survey by Deloitte Global. The eighth edition of Deloitte Global’s “Women in the Boardroom: A Global Perspective” was released on Friday, with the goal of raising awareness and promoting gender equality and diversity in the global business community. The report’s findings revealed that when it comes to the highest executive positions, women’s representation drops even further: Only 6% of chief executive officers worldwide are women, a 1% increase from our previous edition. With the exception of Singapore, Southeast Asian countries reported an increase in the percentage of representation of female CEOs between 2021 and 2023, which is encouraging, the report said. If current trends continue, global parity for CEOs will not be achieved until 2111, nearly 90 years from now, the report warned. Among the countries in the Southeast Asia region, Malaysia leads in terms of female board seats (28.5%), thanks to initiatives like the “one woman on board” quota for publicly traded companies.
Although listed companies in Malaysia have yet to meet the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance’s target of 30% female directors, there has been commendable progress in women’s representation on Malaysian boards. Thailand came second with 19% of board seats held by women, trailing the global average of 23.3% and slightly behind the Southeast Asia average of 19.9%. However, the country exceeds the Asia-Pacific average of 14.8%. This represents a 1.2-percentage-point increase per year, but it is lower than Southeast Asia’s overall increase. Read more at: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/general/40037605
