The suggestion is part of 11 recommendations made at the first National Conference for Saudi Women that was recently held at the InterContinental Hotel in Riyadh with the support of Princess Sitah bint Abdullah.
Over 850 businesswomen from across the Kingdom attended the two-day event, where a number of issues relating to the role Saudi women can play in investing in the economy were discussed. Other issues discussed include the role of both the public and private sectors in expanding investment opportunities for Saudi women, the role of Saudi women in supporting the national economy, and the help they are being provided with in realizing these objectives.
In a message to the conference, Fahd Al-Sultan, secretary-general of the Saudi Council of Chambers, said the event was a great success and that the council will make it an annual event.
“Women have become a major economic power in the past few years and their investments are expected to reach $18 billion by 2014,” he said, adding that the bank deposits of Saudi women have crossed the $100 billion mark.
The event’s third session discussed the role of financing in expanding investment opportunities for women, especially in projects that do not require a large capital, while a review of the successful experiments of businesswomen was discussed in the fourth event.
The conference also shed light on the success attained by Saudi women in many fields, including education, health and IT.
It also noted that although Saudi women have succeeded as businesswomen, they are still not performing up to their expectations due to the obstacles they face in investments and in the labor market.
Addressing the opening session of the seminar on Monday, Aziza Al-Khateeb, a member of the Saudi Economic Association, said less than a quarter of the Kingdom’s women work force is being utilized in the country’s development.
According to Ministry of Labor statistics, the majority of jobs women are employed in are of a clerical nature and not more than 4 percent of them hold key positions.
