Women, family and community development ministry secretary-general Junaidah Kamaruddin said the development of the economy would receive a boost if more women participated in business and joined the workforce.

She also said the ministry is looking at empowering women through numerous initiatives, such as building capacity through entrepreneurship.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has intensified the feminisation of poverty, hampering female participation in the labour market and exacerbating inequality in terms of access to and use of resources.

“Therefore, we should consider the disadvantages faced by women, women with disabilities as well as elderly women,” she said in her keynote speech at the launch of the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) here today.

The AWE is a year-long initiative under the US Embassy’s Wanita Empowered campaign, in collaboration with the Women Entrepreneur Network Association (Wena).

The academy will train 30 aspiring women entrepreneurs of all ages from the Klang Valley, Kedah, Kelantan and Sabah through networking, mentorship and financial literacy programmes.

US ambassador to Malaysia Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir said the programmes would also teach women to build their businesses to sustain them for the long term.

Meanwhile, commenting on Malaysia’s travel entry ban for US citizens, Kamala said the embassy was discussing with Putrajaya on the implementation of the ban.

“We are aware that Malaysia has listed us among the 24 countries (for the entry ban) and we are still discussing with the Malaysian government to better understand the decision and the process.”