As the year ends, women in Saudi Arabia continue to make great strides across the Kingdom thanks to government and private support. According to a report published by Al-Eqtisadiah, as well as official statistics presented for World Entrepreneurship Day, Saudi women now account for 39 percent of the total number of entrepreneurs in the country, going up from 4 percent to 35 percent over the past decade.
At this year’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED), held earlier in November at Effat University in Jeddah, the focus was on Vision 2030, a nationwide strategy to diversify the economy of the Kingdom and reduce its dependency on oil. A main part of Vision 2030 is increasing the participation of women in all facets of the Kingdom’s social and economic spheres.
Sofana Dahlan, WED ambassador and CEO and founder of Tashkeil
Sofana Dahlan, WED ambassador and CEO and founder of Tashkeil and Kayanote, said at the event that entrepreneurship, particularly for women, is still growing, pointing to the need to “open the door for dialogue to discuss and address the challenges faced by our entrepreneurs.” She also said that it is her mission and everyone else’s to work towards changing “the stereotyped image of the Saudi woman.”
Mohammed Hakeem, master of ceremony at WED and associate professor at the University of Jeddah, said, “We see today Saudi female entrepreneurs who have been meeting the challenges; we need to listen to them, share their concerns and stories of success, and benefit from their experiences.”
On the 25th of November, the Prince Mohammad Bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC) hosted International Entrepreneurship Day activities, providing seminars and lectures targeted at women empowerment in the workplace to empower women globally.
According to Arab News, Dr. Nabil Kushak, dean of MBSC, pointed out that the Kingdom’s development is very much dependent on “supporting and encouraging the creativity of women entrepreneurs,” and by encouraging more women into the workforce, Saudi Arabia is creating “an attractive and sustainable business environment” for all.
“The role of women in the business and financial environment is an integral part of what we aspire to through our vision, which is an important direction in our responsibility toward the country”, he said.
Arab News also reported this month that more and more women are joining the mobile phone maintenance market. According to Fadwa Al-Atwi, a Saudi trainer, said that “the Saudization of the telecommunications sector has increased the involvement of Saudi women in the labor market significantly.”
