Saudi women on a roll

Contrary to the western perception that Saudi women are under the thumb of a patriarchal society, there are some things that can’t be ignored. Take, for instance, a recent government study that found that Saudi women have more than $100 billion in ready cash lying around in banks. That’s up from $62 billion in 2004.
Saudi Arabia, being what it is, doesn’t always have an explanation for this huge leap in female economic wealth, so if one is looking for reasons it won’t be found here. But we can look at current trends that work in favor of women’s burgeoning earning power and acquired wealth. For the uninitiated, acquiring vast sums of money often come from Saudi Arabia’s inheritance laws. Although a woman’s share of an inheritance is less than the men in her family, laws protect women from being cheated out of their fair share of an estate by greedy male relatives.
But another reason may be that Saudi women, better educated than the previous generation, are also entering the workplace in greater numbers than ever before. While accounting for just 5.1 percent of the Saudi labor market, they make up 49.6 percent of the country’s population. Efforts by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah over the past decade has helped clear the path for women to become great earners.
Employment has expanded in the retail sector and the Ministry of Commerce has made it easier for women to conduct business by not requiring them do their business through a male guardian. In addition, the Ministry of Labor no longer requires females to obtain permission from men to seek employment.
Other bright spots include a decision by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs to allow women to operate catering businesses without male representation.
The women’s division of the Council of Saudi Chambers also has become more active by organizing workshops in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam to promote women trade and economic activities. The workshops target female lawyers and businesswomen to implement strategies to overcome government and private business obstacles.
This is all well and good, but the fact remains that Saudi women account for only 7.3 percent of the commercial registrations issued by the Ministry of Commerce. But this isn’t necessarily an issue of discrimination against women. As a vast number of Saudi women join the ever-growing ranks of fledgling business owners, they are discovering that the various ministries charged with granting licenses and enforcing regulations are ill-equipped to handle new types of female-related businesses.
A weakness in ministries responsible for regulation enforcement is that rules and regulations apply to all businesses regardless of their function. A female-owned catering business, for example, would be expected to adhere to the same regulations as a car repair shop. A fashion designer opening a boutique would be required to follow the same requirements as the pizza place at the other end of the mall.
It also appears that the size of the business matters little to some ministries. For example, ministries can charge a new business about SR 2,500 for each expatriate employee. Add insurance fees, Iqama and the annual cost of employing one worker would be about SR4,000. But that requirement makes no distinction between a business that employs 300 people and a company that staffs only five workers.
Many female entrepreneurs find themselves at a distinct disadvantage right out of the gate by being asked to pony up so much money while larger established companies can easily absorb such costs.
Simply, ministries have not caught up to the changing demographics of private business ownership. This is not an insurmountable hurdle, and I have confidence that our government will tailor the commercial registration process and regulation enforcement to specific types of businesses.
However, it’s to the government’s advantage to act quickly. Clearly, Saudi women are quickly becoming an economic powerhouse in the Middle East if not on a global level. By streamlining labor and commerce rules, women can make a true difference in Saudi Arabia’s economic health.