THE of Human Resources Ministry (KESUMA) and Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp), in collaboration with the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM), has launched the Wanita MyWira Accelerator, a national initiative designed to equip more than 100,000 women with high-growth, future-ready skills and job opportunities by 2030.

KPWKM Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the initiative reflects Malaysia’s firm commitment to inclusive economic empowerment and recognises women as key drivers of growth under the Madani economic framework.

“When we empower women, we empower families, communities and ultimately the nation. Through Wanita MyWira, we are creating real pathways for women to access decent work and participate fully in Malaysia’s economy.

“This effort strengthens our national ecosystem for women’s empowerment, in line with National Policy for Women 2025-2030 and the Madani vision of compassion and shared prosperity,” she said at the programme launch today.

Nancy added that although women outperform men in every level of education, this has yet to translate into equal participation in the workforce, with female labour force participation at 56.5% compared with 83.3% for men as of August 2025.

“Many women remain outside the labour force due to care responsibilities. This reflects an untapped potential that could be unlocked through flexible work arrangements, targeted reskilling and inclusive workplace policies.

“Through the government framework and reaffirmed in the 13th Malaysia Plan, we aim to raise female labour force participation to 60% by addressing barriers such as unpaid care work, gender discrimination and unequal access to opportunities,” she added.

KESUMA Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong said the accelerator is an evolution of Malaysia’s existing MyWira programmes, moving from tax incentives to direct investments that will create measurable change.

“This is not a charity programme for women, but an empowerment programme to deal with the stubborn life structures that make women have to run so much harder compared to others.

“We are fighting inequality and this is not just about idealism, but about maximising the whole talent pool of our workforce,” he said.

Sim added the initiative builds upon previous MyWira phases — MyWira 1.0, which offered tax breaks for women returning to work, and MyWira 2.0, which extended those incentives to employers hiring women making a career comeback.

“KESUMA, via TalentCorp, will invest up to RM15 million this year under a co-investment model to train 1,000 women, work with 1,000 employers and bring together over 200 partners under the MyWira Ecosystem Council. By 2030, the accelerator will empower over 100,000 women across Malaysia,” he said.

He also said that Malaysia has made steady progress with women now holding 28% of board positions in public-listed companies, up from 5% in 2007 and the gender pay gap narrowing sharply from RM211 in 2023 to RM18 as of March 2025.

“Although we are just a few percentage points away from our goal of 60% female participation, it still means that for every ten men working, only about seven women are in the workforce. We cannot stop and we must not stop.

“At KESUMA, we do not just want to push against the string, we want to bend it. We want to permanently change the default so that equality becomes the new natural state,” he said.