Women with skills in governance, management, company law and financial matters are being encouraged to apply for appointment to several State Owned Enterprise boards.

State Owned Enterprises Minister Todd McClay is calling for nominations for the Boards of Airways Ltd, AsureQuality Ltd, Meteorological Service of New Zealand Ltd and Quotable Value New Zealand Ltd.

He says he is looking for high calibre individuals, with strong commercial skills and is keen to receive applications from a diverse range of New Zealanders, particularly women, who are under-represented.

Minister for Women Louise Upston is also encouraging a greater number of women to put themselves forward for consideration.

"Mr McClay and I are committed to increasing the percentage of women on State Owned Enterprises boards to at least 45%," she says.

Nominations for the positions close on 5 August 2015 and interest can be registered at www.boardappointments.co.nz.

As well as commercial skills, the particular skills sought for each of the boards are:

Airways Ltd: Experience and knowledge in general aviation.

AsureQuality: Experience in B2B and B2G transactions; and understanding of the international regulatory environment in food related sectors; and an understanding of relevant Australian markets.

MetService: Experience working in industries subject to digital disruption and information technology or infrastructure and/or understanding of iwi issues within the sector.

Quotable Value: Expertise in information technology, particularly the commercialisation of data.