Prime Minister Najib Razak warned that a list of these companies would be published next year.
“We will name and shame these companies.
“I can also threaten not to award them government contracts if they are really, really recalcitrant,” he said in his opening remarks at the TN50 (Transformation 2050) dialogue for women, held in conjunction with National Women’s Day today.
Najib said he believed such a move would lead to a dramatic increase in the number of women in such positions over the next few years.
Najib said that as of last year, public listed companies had recorded 16.8% of women in director positions.
However, he noted that this was still 13.2% short of the government’s target of 30% women in decision-making positions.
The female labour participation, Najib said, has also seen an increase of 7.5%, from 46.8% in 2010 to 54.3% last year.
This meant there was over 700,000 women in the labour workforce, he added.
On the issue of the goods and services tax, Najib said it was a source of revenue for the government and did not just fall from the sky.
“The opposition has said it’ll take away this source of revenue. If we take away RM42 billion, there is nothing you can do.
“Taking away this RM42 billion from the nation’s revenue basically means the country will be at a standstill and the government becomes dysfunctional.
“Don’t trust the opposition. They are lying. I am the minister of finance. I know,” he added.