As Malaysia looks towards Budget 2027, the conversation around women’s economic empowerment must move beyond participation numbers and training attendance.

For women in public relations and communications, the next step is influence — having a meaningful voice where organisational strategy, reputation, risk, technology and investment decisions are made.

That is the central message from WIPR: women in communications should not simply be brought in to communicate decisions after they have been made. They should be part of shaping those decisions.

WIPR’s Future Voices 2026 survey of 104 communications professionals across Malaysia points to a significant gap.

While 82% believe communications professionals should have executive or board representation as strategic leaders, only 16% believe the profession is adequately represented at board level. Meanwhile, 80% identify the perception of communications as a support function as the biggest barrier to leadership progression.

For Budget 2027, WIPR believes this gap presents an opportunity to rethink how Malaysia develops its next generation of women leaders.

Malaysia’s Budget 2027 is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on 9 October 2026, marking a key opportunity for the Government to translate national priorities and stakeholder recommendations into concrete policies and funding.

The 2027 Wish List

1. Dedicated funding for women’s strategic leadership

WIPR would like to see dedicated HRD Corp support for programmes that go beyond functional communications training and prepare women for executive and board-level leadership.

This should include board readiness, strategic reputation management, AI capability, crisis leadership, governance and decision-making.

The objective should not simply be to count how many women attend a course, but how many progress into positions of greater responsibility and influence.

2. Put women communicators into the national board pipeline

Women in PR and communications should be explicitly recognised within national women-on-boards initiatives, GLC board pipelines, director talent databases and nomination pathways.

Strategic communication, reputation, stakeholder management and crisis leadership are increasingly board-relevant capabilities. Experienced women communicators should therefore be recognised as part of Malaysia’s wider pool of board-ready talent.

3. Build five national capability pathways

WIPR proposes support for five interconnected capability programmes:

• Women in Communications Leadership and Board Readiness
• Strategic Communication, Reputation and Investor Engagement
• Women and AI Leadership
• Women-to-Global Scale-Up
• Leadership and Crisis Resilience

Together, these programmes would create a pathway from professional capability to executive readiness, board participation and wider economic influence.

4. Measure Progression, Not Participation

One of the biggest changes WIPR would like to see in Budget 2027 is a shift in how success is measured. Instead of focusing primarily on the number of women trained, the national conversation should track their progression from training and capability development to executive and board readiness, leadership appointments and ultimately strategic influence.

This means measuring tangible outcomes such as progression into C-suite positions, board appointments, GLC leadership, strategic advisory roles and international business leadership.

5. Establish a Annual Women in Strategic Leadership Index

WIPR proposes an Annual Women in Strategic Leadership Index to track women’s progression into executive and board positions, strategic decision-making roles, GLC leadership, AI-enabled roles and international business.

The purpose would be to measure not only representation, but whether women are gaining genuine decision-making influence.

Women Must Lead the AI Economy

AI is also changing the leadership equation.

WIPR’s research found that 65% of respondents regard AI and technology literacy as critical future capabilities, while 87% identify content creation as one of the areas most affected by AI.

As AI automates more routine communications work, the value of human judgement, strategic thinking, ethics, trust and reputation leadership will become even more important.

Budget 2027 should therefore support AI literacy for women leaders, AI-enabled entrepreneurship and responsible AI capability — particularly around misinformation, reputation and stakeholder trust.

The goal should not be to prepare women merely to adapt to AI.

Malaysia should be preparing women to shape the AI economy.

From Reputation to Investor Confidence

WIPR also sees an opportunity for stronger collaboration between the communications profession, Bursa Malaysia and Malaysian public-listed companies.

Investor relations, corporate communications, reputation management and crisis preparedness can no longer operate as disconnected functions. Investors, employees, customers and the public increasingly assess companies through the same lens: whether they are credible, transparent and trusted.

A WIPR–Bursa Malaysia/PLC industry initiative could strengthen capability in strategic communications, equity-story development, investor engagement, crisis preparedness and AI-related reputational risk.

The principle is straightforward:

The communications leader belongs alongside strategy, finance, legal and risk — not downstream from them.

From Micro to Global

Women’s economic empowerment should also be measured by the ability to create and scale value.

Budget 2027 could strengthen pathways for women entrepreneurs to move from micro and local businesses into regional and international markets through export readiness, strategic networks, investor communications, governance and leadership development.

WIPR’s research suggests that the challenge is not simply a lack of individual capability. Only 23% identified business acumen as a barrier, compared with 80% who pointed to the perception of communications as a support function.

That distinction matters.

If Malaysia wants more women in positions of influence, the policy response must address the structures that determine who gets recognised, sponsored, appointed and heard.

Leadership When the Pressure Is On

Finally, leadership development cannot stop when women reach the table.

AI-generated misinformation, cyber incidents, geopolitical uncertainty, reputational threats and intense public scrutiny mean that today’s leaders must be able to make decisions under pressure.

WIPR proposes a Women’s Leadership Resilience and Crisis Readiness programme covering crisis decision-making, executive presence, media scrutiny, stakeholder risk, crisis simulations and boardroom influence.

This should be complemented by practical structural support — including flexible work arrangements, childcare support and return-to-leadership pathways — so that experienced women are not lost from the leadership pipeline at critical stages of their careers.

The Bigger Budget 2027 Message

WIPR’s wish list is ultimately about more than women in PR.

It is about recognising that communications, reputation, trust and stakeholder intelligence are strategic assets — and that women who have built expertise in these areas should have a seat at the decision-making table.

Malaysia does not need another conversation that stops at participation.

It needs a leadership pipeline that converts capability into influence.

For Budget 2027, WIPR’s message is therefore simple:

Invest in women. Build their strategic capability. Open the leadership pipeline. Measure their progression. And make sure they are in the room before the decisions are made — not after.

About Women in PR Malaysia

Women in PR (WIPR) was founded in September 2025 by Hazlina Hashim and Arnee Ismail, two seasoned and passionate PR professionals who came together with a shared belief: women deserve greater visibility, stronger leadership opportunities and meaningful support in shaping the narratives that influence business, culture and society.

What began as a conversation between colleagues quickly became a platform for change.

As the first organisation of its kind in Malaysia, WIPR was established to ensure that women in public relations and communications have a stronger voice and a vital seat at the table where leadership decisions are made.

Together, WIPR is not simply leading the narrative — it is changing the game.

Building a Legacy for the Next Generation

WIPR’s vision extends beyond the advancement of today’s professionals. It is about building a lasting legacy and actively opening doors for the next generation of women leaders in communications.

The organisation is committed to empowering, developing and supporting women who will continue to shape Malaysia’s business, institutional and public narratives.

WIPR’s vision is a future where women in PR lead at the highest levels — shaping strategy and policy and creating impact with empathy, excellence and integrity.

 

This Budget 2027 wish list was shared by Hazlina Hashim, Chairman of Women in PR (WIPR), on 27 August 2026, outlining WIPR’s call for stronger investment in women’s leadership, strategic communications, AI capability and boardroom representation.