His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Prince of the Eastern Province, inaugurated today the activities of the (Women’s Economic Forum 2024), which is organized by the Eastern Chamber represented by the Women’s Empowerment Center in its eighth edition, with wide participation from specialists, female specialists, officials, academics, and those interested in economic affairs in general and the women’s business sector in particular, at the Chamber’s headquarters in Dammam.
In his speech, His Highness praised what the wise leadership provides in terms of empowering women in all fields, through economic programs provided in various fields to contribute to the local product.
Then His Highness honored the sponsors and supporters of the forum, and toured the accompanying exhibition, listening to an explanation from the Chairman of the Chamber, Badr Al-Rizaiza, about the objectives of the forum and the most prominent services and works provided by the Chamber in order to empower Saudi women.
The forum witnessed the holding of four sessions that addressed the developments of Saudi women in light of the vision by reading their effective and influential role in achieving its goals, the opportunities and capabilities available to women in the entrepreneurship system and ways to enhance their roles in it and what they can do to ensure the sustainability of their companies, and their pivotal role in economic development in all its various sectors, in addition to training and its importance in qualifying them for successful leadership.
During its opening session, the forum hosted His Excellency the Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Social Development for Labor, Dr. Abdullah bin Nasser Abu Thunain, who confirmed in his speech that the ministry has achieved multiple accomplishments by implementing ambitious development initiatives and projects in accordance with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and these integrated efforts have resulted in tangible positive results on the social and economic levels, which has helped enhance human capital and raise the Kingdom’s competitive position globally.
He pointed out that the labor market strategy has set a clear roadmap for implementing radical reforms in the labor market, whether in the public or private sector, stressing that this strategy aims to enhance the economic participation of citizens, raise the level of skills of national cadres, increase productivity, improve the efficiency of the labor market, and reduce unemployment rates.
Speaking about the ministry’s targets, His Excellency pointed out that the overall unemployment rate has decreased to its lowest historical rate of 3.3%, making the Kingdom rank fifth among the G20 countries in terms of low unemployment rates, indicating that the unemployment rate among Saudis has decreased to 7.1% by the end of the second quarter of 2024, with 4% among males and 12.8% among females, while the number of Saudis working in the private sector reached a record number by the end of October 2024, reaching 2.4 million Saudi men and women.
Dr. Abu Thnain explained that the priva8te sector’s participation rate in employing Saudis rose to 52.8%, which reflects the success of government initiatives and policies in promoting Saudi employment, and confirms the strength of the Saudi economy and its rapid growth, indicating that the Ministry’s efforts have focused on qualitative initiatives aimed at raising the level of skills and training for male and female citizens throughout the Kingdom, the most prominent of which was the launch of the National Training Campaign (Waad), which aims to provide one million, one hundred and fifty-five thousand training opportunities over 3 years until 2025 AD, and this target was achieved by the end of the second quarter of 2024 AD.
Regarding women’s empowerment and increasing their economic participation, His Excellency stressed that the Kingdom has achieved qualitative leaps in this field, as the economic participation rate of Saudi women doubled to reach 35.4% in the second quarter of 2024, compared to 17% in 2017, noting that Saudi women have proven their ability and efficiency in the labor market, as the percentage of women in middle and senior management positions reached 43.02% during the second quarter of 2024.
He touched on a group of initiatives launched by the Ministry to support women’s participation in the labor market, such as the leadership training program in cooperation with INSEAD University, which helped qualify 1,700 Saudi women leaders, and the parallel training program that supported more than 122,000 Saudi women in developing their technical and personal skills; while the Human Resources Development Fund continues to implement the “Wusool” program, which provides partial coverage of transportation costs for working women, and the “Qara” program, which contributes to enabling working women to join the labor market and continue in it by providing financial support for childcare services.
At the end of his speech, Dr. Abu Thnain explained that the Ministry is currently working on launching new initiatives within the National Transformation Program, including an initiative to develop skills and increase job opportunities for women in the fields of freelance and flexible work, and an initiative to develop a childcare system to support working women, within the framework of the Kingdom’s full commitment to empowering women and achieving a balance between work and family, to enhance their role as an effective partner in national development in all fields.
For his part, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Chamber, Badr Al-Rizaiza, appreciated the patronage and honor of His Highness the Prince of the Eastern Province for the forum, which contributes to supporting the activities and initiatives of the Chamber and gives it the momentum required to continue its efforts in organizing forums and gatherings, while giving the forum added value to its value and importance in empowering Saudi women, noting that the forum provides an effective environment for communication, supports the exploration of opportunities, and monitors the opinions, ideas and visions necessary to increase women’s participation in the development and growing growth witnessed by the country and the region.
Al-Rizaiza pointed out that the forum seeks to support women’s participation in the national economy and review their ability to influence it, and is an opportunity to learn about the pivotal role of women in the comprehensive economic development that the country is experiencing, and to anticipate their future in promoting sustainable development, and to support their role in economic leadership, within the Chamber’s support for women’s progress in various fields and at various levels; by launching initiatives and programs, and its keenness to diversify its tools in awareness, qualification and training in line with the needs of the national economy, in addition to organizing this forum for the eighth time.
The forum will continue its work tomorrow by organizing four workshops, the first workshop will address the Dhahran Tech Valley system and support for entrepreneurship, while the second will review tourism entrepreneurship, the third workshop will discuss the importance of diversity and inclusiveness in the work environment, and the fourth workshop will talk about creative leadership – the key to success in the changing business world.
