KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 29): As part of the women empowerment agenda, Budget 2022 outlined several initiatives including strengthening female directorship composition in public listed companies (PLCs) by ensuring at least one female director is appointed in all PLCs beginning Sept 1, 2022. 

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the government also provided RM5 million to the Women Leadership Foundation (Yayasan Kepimpinan Wanita) to boost women's participation in the economic sector. 

“To help women entrepreneurs who are also affected by Covid-19 as well as as a measure to increase the capacity of their business, a funding of RM230 million will be provided through the Program DANANITA under MARA and TEKUNITA under TEKUN.

“The government will also implement the MyKasih Kapital Program to encourage women to generate income from home. Incentives in the form of basic business capital assistance will be provided in addition to mentoring programs to promote online business,” the finance minister said on Friday (Oct 29).

Meanwhile, the government also intends to extend individual income tax relief of up to RM3 million for the payment of nursery fees and kindergartens until the year of assessment 2023. 

The minister added that the government through Lembaga Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga (LPPKN) and Prison Department Malaysia will distribute free basic personal hygiene kits every month to 130,000 young women from the B40 group. 

“A total of more than RM11 million is provided as a subsidy for mammogram tests to the high-risk women and to perform cervical cancer screening tests on women,” he said. 

See more Budget 2022 highlights here.