EP BUSINESSWOMEN TAKE FIRST LOOK AT NEW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 009366

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DHAHRAN SENDS
PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2015
TAGS: ECON PGOV SCUL KMPI SA
SUBJECT: EP BUSINESSWOMEN TAKE FIRST LOOK AT NEW
OPPORTUNITIES AT THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

REF: A. JEDDAH 4925 (NOTAL)

B. RIYADH 5240 (NOTAL)

Classified By: Consul General John Kincannon for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)

.


1. (U) Summary: Following the trend in Jeddah and Riyadh, the
Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce elections in early
February will be open to women, both as voters and as
candidates. As of December 17, out of a total of 44
candidates five are women. December 18th is the last day to
register. The EP Chamber of Commerce has held information
sessions for businesswomen, both for members of the small
advisory group to the chamber on women,s issues and for the
larger membership. Some businesswomen remain skeptical as to
the benefits of this development. End Summary.

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INTRODUCING ELECTIONS TO SAUDI WOMEN IN THE EP
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2. (U) On December 12th the Eastern Province Chamber of
Commerce held a special information session for the chamber's
20-person advisory group for women,s issues. This session
was to encourage women to run for the board. Another
information session was held on December 17th, and was open
to all of the businesswomen registered with the Chamber.
This session included information on how to register as a
candidate and a voter, the selection of election monitors,
the timeline of related events, and how to fill out ballots.


3. (C) Some women remain skeptical, both of the process and
of the candidates. "What's the advantage to fighting for one
spot on an 18-member board with 6 people appointed by the
government?" asked Ghaida Al Juraifani, a female business
owner in Al Khobar. Al Juraifani runs her own training and
consulting business from her home. For the past two years
she has been part of the advisory group of 20 women. She
told the PAO that when she asked "What do members of the
chamber do?" the presenter replied "Members can go to
conferences and the trip will be paid for by the Chamber of
Commerce".


4. (C) Similar skepticism was portrayed during the
information session open to the entire membership. Forty
businesswomen attended this session, which was focused on
information needed by voters, rather than candidates. (Note
and comment: Two men presented to the group of women, and
while pictures were "absolutely not allowed", most of the
women did not wear face veils during the mixed session. This
in itself was unusual; no workshop sponsored by the Ministry
of Education, for instance, would have allowed men and women
in the same room. End note and comment.)


5. (C) The women were interested in the details of the
eligibility conditions and complained about the short notice
of their participation. Princess Masha'al bint Faisal bin
Turki, a businesswoman who works in education, said that as a
result the government should appoint more women than men.
"The men will be angry," laughed the presenter, who worked in
the Ministry of Industry's Chamber of Commerce Department.
"Let the men be angry!" replied the princess. One woman from
the Shi'a town of Qatif asked what the purpose of running
would be, beyond just having the prestige of the position.
"What does the board actually do?" The presenters had little
to say in response.


6. (C) The five female candidates include women who are
members of prominent families but do not necessarily run
businesses. "I'm not voting for any of the women," said Al
Juraifani. "Why should I? None of them knows anything about
business." The real way to support progress for women,
according to Al Juraifani, is to support the training and
development of female entrepreneurs, so that there would be
qualified women to run for office.

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SLOW STARTS
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7. (SBU) The Jeddah and Riyadh Chambers of Commerce allowed
women to participate in elections earlier this year, although
female candidates were not allowed in Riyadh. In both
places, small fractions of the total women registered as
members turned up to vote (ref A). In the Eastern Province,
700 women are listed as members of the Chamber of Commerce,
and the official from the Ministry of Industry said that
about 350 of these meet all of the conditions to be eligible
to vote. According to Al Juraifani just 100 are active
businesswomen and 50 regularly show up for the 'Women's
Center' meetings (ref B).

8. (C) In the EP, five women have signed up to run so far;
the last day to register as a candidate is December 18th. The
problem, says Juraifani, is that there are no platforms, no
positions; people have no additional information about what
candidates stand for. Generally, Juraifani said, the women
know even less about the male candidates. Still, the Chamber
of Commerce is trying to do some democracy training. The
Businesswomen's Center at the Chamber of Commerce has invited
the female candidates from Jeddah to share their experience
with elections.

(APPROVED: KINCANNON)
GFOELLER