Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today praised Malaysia for outperforming most of its peers in Asia for recruiting women into management positions.

Citing a 2015 study on salaries in Asia by global recruitment firm Hays, Najib said Malaysia has filled 34 percent of management posts with women, while the average in Asia was only 29 percent.

“We are five percent higher than last year, and considerably above the average for Asia,” he said in a keynote speech at the launch of the Malaysian chapter of the 30% Club, an organisation to promote the participation of women at the decision-making level.

“In fact, we ranked second only to China. And, for the first time, we overtook Hong Kong and Singapore,” Najib said.

Low percentage of women in boards

He also gave the public sector a pat on the back for achieving 32.5 percent of women in the Jusa C grade and above.

However, Najib expressed disappointment over the low percentage of women recruited into the boards of public companies and urged these companies to buck up.

“I want to see women make up 30 percent of the boards of all public companies. But we are behind target,” he said.

“The figure is only 16 percent at present for public company boards and it's even smaller, at 10.3 percent, for public-listed company boards.

“So I urge the leaders among you to do more, to take the next step to break the glass ceilings and instal women in your boards,” Najib said,adding that he has set an Olympic target for the industry players to follow.