A Saudi businesswoman in Riyadh has become the first owner of a factory producing and selling fabrics in the country.
Turfa Al-Mutairi, who is a member of the human resources committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), said that it was her passion and determination that has helped her succeed.
Her Sondos Al-Dibaj factory started out by selling more than 90 meters of lace, silk and other fabrics in the Saudi market.
Al-Mutairi began working as teacher at Al-Riyadh Schools giving home economics classes because of her degree in textiles. But she wanted to do bigger and better things. “My heart was ready for a bigger challenge and I started by showing my designs and sketches to several people,” she said.
Al-Mutairi said the support from people encouraged her to start working as a consultant.
Three years ago, she celebrated turning her designs into real pieces. The most exciting part for Al-Mutairi was the reaction to her collections. “People showered me with compliments, which motivated me to think seriously of opening up the first fabric factory in Saudi Arabia,” she said.
The factory was built over a 1,500-square-meter area and has eight machines to make fabrics, and adapt imported products to suit the local market. After she hired 45 workers and eight young Saudi women, she introduced new materials and designs into the market such as embroideries created with machines.
Al-Mutairi said that she faced growing challenges after she moved to the second industrial city in Riyadh. “I had problems of increasing operational expenses, loans, competition, and the different decisions of the Labor Ministry.”
Now she is hoping to install a new production line and hire more than 80 young Saudi women. “I have a mission to involve these women and train them in production,” Al-Mutairi said. She urged banks to support projects and to make the application process less bureaucratic. She said it is not easy being involved in business and those who succeed need to have “fighting spirit.”
Al-Mutairi urged the labor ministry to support the opening up of new factories and to take decisions that would reduce obstacles for entrepreneurs. “It’s important to have Saudi workers, but also vital to have the experience of expatriates,” she said.
Saudi woman is KSA’s first fabric factory owner
