Taipei, Feb. 1 (CNA) Ten more companies headquartered in Taiwan were included in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index (GEI) Tuesday, bringing the number of Taiwanese firms on the list to 16, the biggest increase of any country in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a local market advisor.

The gender gap pay is a commonly reported issue in Taiwan that impacts the attraction and retention of talent, damages employee morale and company reputation, Alex Lee (李鴻基), founder of Quantum International Corp., said via a statement Wednesday following the release of Bloomberg GEI.

A total of 484 companies across 54 industries based in 45 countries and regions which meet the criteria and have a score above a global threshold established by Bloomberg were included in the index, according to Bloomberg’s website.

Among the 16 Taiwanese companies are AU Optronics Corp., Fubon Financial Holding Co., Cathay Financial Holding Co Ltd., WIN Semiconductors Corp, Zhen Ding Technology, Oneness Biotech Co Ltd, King’s Town Bank Co Ltd, E.Sun Financial Holding Co Ltd, and Yuanta Financial Holding Co Ltd.

Also included in the list are Taishin Financial Holding Co., Shin Kong Financial Holding Co., SinoPac Financial Holding Co., CTBC Financial Holding Co., First Financial Holding Co., SINBON Electronics, and Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co.

The index measures gender equality performance based on five dimensions set by Bloomberg: female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand.