BY ALEXANDRA LORNA, NATASHA JEE & JACINTHA JOLENE
KUCHING: Women should be involved in developing the economy of the country, said Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
She said that in Malaysia, the women population is 15.4 million which accounts for 47.7 per cent of the entire Malaysian population.
“There are many women here, in this hall alone we have 3,500 of them. Therefore, it is very important to involve women in developing the economy.
“Thus, to empower our people and develop our economy, I have five approaches to promote women’s economic empowerment,” she said in her speech during the Unity Government National Convention 2023 at World Trade Centre (WTC) Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
She said the first approach was to ensure that women were fully equipped with knowledge, skills, business knowledge and also leadership qualities.
“Secondly, the federal government should provide micro loans and financial and digital literacy training to women entrepreneurs and housewives.
“Women are generally more responsible and sensitive in financial management. Thus, the ability to repay the loan is much higher.
“However, the ease of obtaining micro loans and the level of financial and IT literacy should be improved so that we continue to progress,” she told.
Thirdly, she said the government must recognise unpaid work as a job.
“ For example, taking care of the family and household. In this case, the government can impose deductions from the husband’s/wife’s/child’s salary to be paid to the guardian or those who manage the family/household with the husband’s/wife’s/child’s permission,” she said.
She also said the government should invest in women-led organisations and businesses as many women are involved in business such as in the corporate field.
“The government can help this group by injecting investments by purchasing shares in the business.
“Lastly, we should create appropriate and lucrative job opportunities for women such as strictly implementing the policy of 30 per cent of women in decision-making positions,” she said.
Earlier, Nancy said there are also a few approaches to empower the local community economy that include the federal government to provide training on skills, knowledge and leadership for youths to prepare themselves for jobs and business arena.
“The federal government also should provide micro-loans and financial and digital literacy training to every level of society.
“And importantly, the government must ensure good internet connectivity and provide internet infrastructural facilities in the rural areas to expand their agricultural market worldwide,” she added.
