JEDDAH, 5 April 2006 — The second forum of the Gulf Businesswomen’s Committee kicked off on Monday. Hundreds of women from the business community from all over the region attended the forum.
The opening ceremony was held in InterContinental Hotel in Jeddah. Princess Adilah bint Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz attended the opening ceremony.
The two-day forum started yesterday morning at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) under the theme “Gulf Women and Successful Investment”.
One of the people behind the establishment of the Gulf Businesswomen’s Committee, Princess Mashael bint Faisal ibn Turki ibn Abdul Aziz said in her welcoming speech that this forum comes at an appropriate time due to increased participation by women in decision making and the opening up of work opportunities for women in the private sector.
The participants of yesterday’s activities included Jamal Al-Muter, founder and president of Kanz for Training and Administrative Consulting. Al-Muter stressed the need to focus on providing and improving customer service. Muna Al-Muaed, CEO of Yousuf Khalil Al-Muaed & Sons Group, from Bahrain, spoke on utilizing evaluation forms to evaluate and develop the performance of business administrators.
Afnan Al-Zayyani, founder and chairwoman of the Al-Zayyani Commercial Services Company and a board member of the Bahrain Businesswomen’s Association as well as a member of the Bahrain Businessmen’s Association in addition to being a founding member of the Gulf Businesswomen’s Committee, told Arab News that it is important to have these associations and conferences for businesswomen because they need ways to exchange ideas, learn from each other’s experiences and support each other.
“We need to establish capacity building and a networking for the businesswomen to help them achieve their objectives,” she said.
The businesswomen’s associations or centers in the chambers of commerce are necessary in our culture because some women are shy about even going to the chamber, so they need encouragement and the associations can act as a link and a resource for local businesswomen and foreign businesses seeking information, according to Afnan.
She said that businesswomen’s issues are different from businessmen even if both face similar problems and developments that affect their businesses. On the obstacles that businesswomen in the Gulf face, she said, “I won’t call them obstacles but challenges.” Businesswomen in the Gulf have different challenges depending on the local traditions and circumstances but there are some common challenges for businesswomen here, according to Afnan.
“The main challenge is the culture that might not accept women as leaders and decision makers, so we need to show that we are capable and qualified,” said Afnan to Arab News.
