DAMMAM, 11 March 2008 — The United Kingdom will offer support for the development of women’s entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia.

“Groups of people and government agencies from the Kingdom and Britain have been working together to facilitate women’s participation in businesses and to develop a new breed of women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia,” UK Minister for Trade and Investment Lord Digby Jones said at a seminar entitled “Women in Business” at the Asharqia Chamber yesterday.

Jones emphasized the need for more women’s participation in businesses in the wake of increasing competition posed by the globalization in which talents are essential for the survival of businesses and women are a source of talent that should be properly utilized.

He pointed out that the cooperation between the Asharqia Chamber and the British Trade Office at Alkhobar in organizing a number of programs and training course is aimed at developing entrepreneurship skills among the Saudi women.

Highlighting British experience in the development of women entrepreneurs and increasing number of UK women work force, Lord Jones indicated that in the UK, women entrepreneurs accounted for over 36 percent of the total businesses and women workforce more than doubled during the last 25 years.

“Women must adapt themselves to a changing world and take up challenges in the labor market,” he said. The British minister also talked about challenges of Saudi family businesses, saying that one of the major challenges facing family owned businesses is succession planning.

He said that there are similarities of family businesses in both countries, pointing to Birmingham, which is well known for a place of family owned businesses in the UK.

“The UK has experience in running family businesses and we are willing to offer this experience to Saudi Arabia where nearly 90 percent of all businesses are family owned,” said Lord Jones.

He said that Saudi-UK relations have been growing not only in the areas of trade and business, but also in the political and cultural fields.

“Our relations took a new turn following the visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to London last year,” the minister said.

Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, president of Asharqia Chamber, pointed out that Saudi businesses have traditionally been family owned. But he noted that this trend of owning businesses by families is shrinking following the opening of its economy to global competition.