Saudi Arabia to have four industrial cities for women

RIYADH: The Saudi Organization for Industrial Estates and Technology Zones (Modon, in Arabic) is set to establish four new industrial cities in Jeddah, Yanbu, Qassim and Al-Jouf.
Modon is in the process of coordinating with other parties to allocate industrial land to establish the cities, which will be designed specifically for women to work in.
The Council of Ministers issued a new decision recently to allocate lands and areas inside cities to the establishment of industrial projects to employ women.
Modon’s Marketing and Public Relations Director Sami Al-Husseini said that the organization is applying a strategy to establish units for employment that meet international standards, and that are completely environmentally friendly, and that have special designs that take into account the Saudi woman and her specific needs.
He said that these industrial estates will be established near major population centres so as to attract investments to support women working in various fields. Such establishments will also ensure ease of access to public transport, crèches and kindergartens.
Al-Husseini emphasized that Saudi women today are being increasingly recognized as strong economic players, having full productive capacities inside the industrial cities under Modon. Many women today, he said, already work in industrial processes, along production belts and as specialists in the quality departments. He said that they also work in management positions and as officials in human resources departments and production development programs.
He further noted that at the Modon Oasis in Al-Ahsa, which is the first industrial city totally run by women, the strategy of the industrial estate organization to establish a modern, clean and environmentally-friendly working environment has had real economic benefit, creating a significant number of jobs.
The oasis operates on 500,000 square meters south of Hafouf near the airport, and has more than 80 factories. The oasis now has 20 up-and-running factories as a total cost of SR85 million, involving industrial, trade and service sectors that are have been very attractive for women thus far.