RIYADH, 6 August — A well-known Saudi businesswoman and member of the Saudi Economic Society has stressed the need for a women’s section in the Ministry of Planning to be established which can create a proper database on women.
“I was shocked to note that, according to official statistics, women’s contribution to the workforce was around five percent of the total during the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Five-Year Plans. I cannot believe it is not improving. Maybe there’s something wrong with the Ministry of Planning,” Nada Al-Fayez told Arab News by phone.
She disclosed that a group of 35 leading Saudi businesswomen had made a representation to Abdulrahman Al-Jeraisy, president of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, that they be allowed to form a businesswomen’s association.
Referring to the data on women in five-year plans, Nada said she had told the Arabic media that they did not reflect the reality on the ground. “The numbers are just not moving. How can that be when women constitute 49 percent of the Saudi population? Someone is doing a cut-and-paste job out there,” she claimed.
The only way to remedy the situation, she pointed out, was to set up a women’s section in the Planning Ministry tasked with compiling reliable data on women’s contribution to the national economy.
“We are an Islamic society in which men and women are segregated. As such, men cannot plan for women, because they do not know what’s happening in the women’s sector. At present, the Ministry of Planning does have women, but they are only translators and clerks.”
She continued: “What we need is an active women’s branch aware of what is going on in the female section of the population. Minister of Planning Dr. Khaled Al-Gosaibi should also have a highly qualified woman as an advisor,” Nada continued, adding that “we are counting on him to bring about these changes.”
Nada said the statements of Crown Prince Abdullah, Interior Minister Prince Naif and his deputy Prince Ahmad underline their sincerity to the cause of working women. However, the message seems to get blurred lower down the line.
She argued Saudi businesswomen were unable to mobilize their huge bank deposits because “the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) is not giving us the green light to set up an investment company for women. I have the capital, the academic background and a flair for doing business. But I cannot do anything, because I don’t even have my own ID that allows me to do anything independently.”
Nada said Saudi businesswomen had set up a small group to advise them on investment opportunities in the Saudi and global stock markets.
