Even though Saudi women are not allowed to sit behind steering wheels, the chief executive officer of Olayan Financing Lubna Al-Olayan was on Forbes’ top Arab businesswomen’s list in 2005. “The thinking that there is no need for women to advance, that everything is fine as it is, is not uncommon, but it is on the retreat,” wrote Arab News’ senior journalist Michel Cousins.

“Things are changing. Women are increasingly looking to play a more active role in Saudi society and employment is a major element of that. In fact, it is the major element,” wrote Cousins in Arab News’ annual Top 20 Supplement on Businesswomen. The supplement highlighted examples of Saudi women becoming more involved in the development of the country. In addition to that, some are even paving the way for the younger generation to lead the future.

Hana Al-Zuhair, executive manager of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Fund to Support Women’s Small Enterprises, has set a good example for building a culture of teamwork.

The fund is created to raise the status of Saudi women and to enable them to play roles in social development. Established in September 2007 in Dammam, the fund encourages Saudi women of all ages who wish to increase their income to apply as long as they have the entrepreneurial spirit and a sound business plan. Each applicant must present her ideas to a group of professionals, including the fund's executive manager Al-Zuhair. After this presentation, a list of finalists is put together and the selected women go through a ten-day training course called “Intilakati” or “My launch.”

“The 40-hour program trains and equips women with business initiatives so they understand how to run and manage their own enterprises independently. They also learn how to take decisions and come up with solutions,” says Al-Zuhair. The training does not mean that the women automatically get funded. In fact, it is the first step in many stages. In addition, the fund is not exclusive to those who want to start from scratch. It is also available for businesswomen of small to medium-sized enterprises who would like to expand or develop their businesses or improve their skills. After completing the training, the women are required to work on their feasibility studies and business plans. Then they are each given one chance to win the hearts and pockets of the sponsors. Over the past two years, the fund has supported 32 projects.

Motivating other women is one of the goals to which Al-Zuhair is herself committed. “In our training, we don’t just teach women the concepts of opening a new business but also to be leaders in many fields, in professional and personal life,” she says. “The more women express themselves, the more they know exactly what they want in life.”

Another group of Saudi women, who understand that thinking, planning, decisions and actions are better when done cooperatively, established the Business Women’s Forum of the Eastern Province. The organization was born out of frustration with a business climate that ignored the needs of businesswomen.

“The forum came into being out of necessity,” said Nora Al-Shuhail, current forum president. “I was in touch with a few businesswomen who were in the field before me. We all faced similar problems. I would solve them one way, and my colleagues would solve them another way. Nabila Al-Bassam thought we should get together and pool our ideas and share our experiences so we could at least help each other.”

Al-Bassam, a gallery owner who earlier worked for Saudi Aramco, assembled 40 women in 1999, and the women realized how much they had in common. “We talked about how we had started our businesses and how difficult it was in the beginning. It was interesting,” said Al-Shuhail. “There were a lot of businesswomen we didn't know. We thought meeting was a great idea, so we decided to meet once a month.”

Saudi businesswoman Enas Hashani also had a vision of motivating local youth and enabling them to become more active when she established her media house Rumman Company.

One of the most popular of the ventures that the media house has launched is Destination Jeddah magazine. According to its editor in chief, the magazine grew from 10,000 to 20,000 copies during their last printing. “We are of course pleased with the local reaction from, not only the expatriate community which was one of our primary targets in terms of audience, but also from young Saudis who are interested in learning more about the city where they have lived all their lives,” Hashani says. Published monthly, Destination Jeddah offers the latest information on events around town, special features about other Saudi cities, religious tourism, fashion and shopping news, restaurant reviews and a full information directory.

Another venture launched by Rumman and proving popular, is the social networking site, Fainak.com. The website, which is also connected to the global networking website Facebook, aims at providing activities and entertainment for the youth of Jeddah while also benefiting them and the community. The site has become so popular that it has extended to the Eastern Province with a team being assembled in Dammam.

Sabria Jawhar, columnist and former Jeddah bureau chief for the Saudi Gazette, wrote on the Huffington Post in July that Saudi businesswomen have tremendous influence in the Kingdom despite the disadvantages they face.

Jawhar said that the issues of driving, male guardianship and the challenges of running a business remain, but that the Kingdom is by no means a cultural prison.

“The reason is simple: Money talks. John Esposito, author of “Who Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think” has come up with some useful information that explodes the stereotypes that are stated so often that many people now unthinkingly accept them as the truth,” wrote Jawhar.

“Esposito, an Islamic affairs professor at Georgetown University and a rare Western scholar who can write about Islam with a clear head, estimates that 70 percent of the savings in Saudi banks is the property of women. Time magazine last year pegged the value at about $11 billion. That ought to wake up those who feel Saudi women are under men’s thumbs. In addition, a great deal of the real estate in Jeddah and Riyadh is owned by women, while 61 percent of the Kingdom’s private businesses are owned by women.”

Hassna'a Mokhtar hassnaa@gmail.com VOLVER