JEDDAH, 29 May 2005 — Malaysian Datuk Rafiah Salim, executive director of International Center for Leadership in Finance (ICLiF), recently impressed the students at Dar Al-Hekma College here not only with her achievements but also by pointing out to them what they could achieve.
Salim was invited to Saudi Arabia as a consultant to the Islamic Development Bank. Dr. Amal El-Tijani, vice dean of finance and administration at Dar Al-Hekma, set up her visit to the college. “She is a good role model for our students in terms of what women can achieve in a field that is generally dominated by men,” said Dr. Saleha Abedin, director of general education, academic advancement and international institutional relations.
Dr. Amani Mohammed, director of business studies, introduced her to the students. Salim spoke about Malaysian society and culture and how traditional it was. However, Malaysian women today occupy top government positions as ministers, deputy ministers and the central bank governor, she said.
“Malaysian government practices ‘civilizational Islam’ and one of its principles is to care for women, enhance women and empower them through a life-long learning approach,” she added.
Speaking of ICLiF, she said that it provided training by internationally recognized professionals for company CEOs and top level management. “We need to prepare our leadership for 2020, to be a developed country and not be swallowed by the West,” Salim said.
Salim’s career has taken her from teaching law at a university where she was the first female dean of the law school to heading the legal department in a commercial bank. Then she became the first woman to sit on the management committee of the bank. From the bank, she was headhunted by the United Nations where she spent five years as head of the UN Human Resources Department. She returned to Malaysia in 2002 and was appointed executive director of the newly established ICLiF.
