RIYADH, 24 June — The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is working on a major proposal to promote women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia.
The draft proposal will be presented by the local chapter to the Saudi government later this year with guidelines on promoting women entrepreneurs’ business interests and providing technical assistance to women-owned businesses.
This was disclosed by Jose Eguren, UN resident coordinator here yesterday. The UNDP, Eguran said, has launched similar projects in Jordan and many other Arab and Asian countries. The move comes in line with the Kingdom’s plan to encourage women to work in business and service sectors. There are currently more than 20,000 businesswomen, engaged in diverse business operations in different parts of the country, according to a study.
In Saudi Arabia, a group of businesswomen has 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. The women have also argued that an exclusive women’s section should be set up at the Planning Ministry tasked with compiling reliable data, especially on women’s contribution to the national economy. Referring to the growing technical cooperation between the UNDP and Saudi government agencies, the UNDP chief said the agency has been working with the Ministry of Commerce on a joint project to support the Saudi ministerial panel for the WTO accession by providing advisory services, supporting the Saudi negotiating team and formulating negotiation strategies. This project will be completed on Aug. 31, 2003. The UNDP, he said, is also working with the Communications Ministry on a road and transport management project to implement a national strategy. It will be completed in December, 2005. This is in addition to another UNDP project to provide technical assistance to the Riyadh-based “Natural Resources Conservation Training Center” (NRCTC).
