RIYADH, 20 March 2004 — The women’s wing of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce & Industry opens today in what is seen as a landmark recognition of women’s participation in the Saudi economy.
The women’s section “will act as a mini chamber of commerce offering all the services provided by headquarters and will be electronically connected to the RCCI to provide the necessary information to help Saudi women run their own businesses,” said Abdulrahman Al-Jeraisy, president of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Its first priority will be to elect its officials.
Huda Al-Jeraisy, a member of the women’s executive committee of the Riyadh chamber, told Arab News there were some 2,800 businesses owned by Saudi women, a number she hopes will grow.
According to a study conducted by King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi women hold a 34 percent stake in private businesses in Riyadh, 25.6 percent in Jeddah and 5.58 percent in Makkah.
There are an estimated 5,000 businesswomen in Riyadh and 4,000 in Jeddah.
Huda Al-Jeraisy said key services of the women’s section will include authentication of the voluminous paperwork necessary if women want to set up new businesses.
It will also run training programs for women and organize seminars.
Saudi women constitute only one percent of the private sector workforce here. “One of the priorities of the women’s wing is to boost this figure,” she said.
Al-Jeraisy said the Ministry of Industry planned to set up an industrial estate to be run by women for women, but she said it was too early to give details.
Lack of investment opportunities for women means that nearly 70 percent of bank accounts — or SR 62billion in deposits — lie idle.
Last year a group of 30 businesswomen submitted proposals to the Shoura Council on how to tap this wealth.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Gulf Chambers of Commerce and Industry has approved the constitution of the first committee for GCC businesswomen to offer services from its headquarters in Dammam.
To start with, the committee will set up a comprehensive database for Gulf businesswomen and examine barriers to fuller participation of women in the economic development of the Gulf states.
