JEDDAH, 18 March 2003 — Traditionally, Saudi businesswomen venture into the fashion and beauty sector. But exceptions to this rule are becoming more widespread, and a new generation of Saudi businesswomen is boldly entering other sectors.
“I think Saudi women should try fields other than the usual tailoring shops and hair salons,” said Alia Banaja, the general manager of 2-The Point Company for computer services.
She established it two years ago with her sister Aisha, offering services in web design, programming and, through its website, recruitment.
“This is a field that Saudi women can excel at,” said Banaja. “Many of them now graduate in computer science and are highly qualified, but they can only find work at schools or training centers.”
Despite the large number of computer training institutes, Banaja says that the problem she continues to face in her work is the lack of up-to-date training programs for her staff.
“The computer institutes offer standard courses without looking at what the market needs or what new programs are available, which means I have to send my employees abroad to learn what’s new, and that costs me a lot of money,” she explained.
Banaja faced lengthy procedures and mountains of paperwork in establishing her business. “I had to get permission from several ministries,” she said. “But now with the Comprehensive Service Center founded by Prince Abdul Majeed (the governor of Makkah region) hopefully things will become easier.”
Ghada Ghazzawi’s struggled at the start up of Arabian Business Center, a PR, marketing and event management business. “It was not easy. This is a male-dominated field, and they could not accept the idea of women working in it, so we faced tough competition,” Ghazzawi commented.
She started ABC in 1999 with four other women because she believed there was a demand for a woman’s perspective in marketing.
“Our slogan is: ‘We are consumers before we are marketers.’ We test the products as consumers and decide on the best approach that appeals to women,” said Ghazzawi. “We were persistent and had a tough attitude, and the confidence and knowledge to succeed,” she said.
Their first project was the marketing and sales of cars, and they were the first female marketing company to undertake such a project.
“A woman shopping for a car can’t always go to the showroom, and when she does she can’t always get proper service and attention, so we came up with the idea of taking the car she’s interested in to her place of work or residence, giving her the information she needs and allowing her to test-drive it with her driver,” explained Ghazzawi.
It was a successful experience and other projects followed, particularly organizing events and festivals.
“Each was difficult in its own way, but we educated ourselves and molded the marketing concepts we learned to fit our society, culture and traditions.”
Banaja and Ghazzawi believe that Saudi women are capable of entering any business they choose, be it marketing, manufacturing or real estate.
“Saudi women have great qualities,” said Ghazzawi, “they are smart, creative and up-to-date but they need to be given the opportunity and the means.”
On the other hand, Samar Salamah, the manager of Glamour Shot photography studio, felt that very few Saudi women are capable of management and most are not dedicated to business.
“Our society produces dependent women, and we are limited in what we are allowed to do,” added Salamah.
According to Ghazzawi there are fields that might not be appropriate for Saudi women, but that is because of the culture, not because of lack of ability.
Banaja feels that in countries where women work in physically demanding fields, they have lost some of their femininity.
Her advice for aspiring Saudi businesswomen is to be patient and to fight for what they want.
“It’s getting a little easier now for Saudi women to enter the business world,” she said.
“There is now a businesswomen’s committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry which speaks for our rights, but more publicity is needed to make women aware of its role.”
Still, Ghazzawi thinks that the JCCI is not cooperative in providing information, contacts and service and more needs to be done.
She advises putative Saudi businesswomen to study the market well, think of something new and different and always remember their cultural background.
