AGAINST THE ODDS: FIRST WOMAN IN MIDDLE EAST WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000538

SIPDIS

RIYADH PASS TO DHAHRAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/28/2018
TAGS: ECON ELAB KISL KWMN SA SOCI KMPI KPAO SCUL
SUBJECT: AGAINST THE ODDS: FIRST WOMAN IN MIDDLE EAST WITH
RE/MAX FRANCHISE

REF: JEDDAH 508

Classified By: Consul General Martin R. Quinn, reasons 1.4b and d.


1. (C) Summary. Aziza Mansour, the first woman in the Middle
East to receive a RE/MAX franchise, fought for recognition of
her right to sell real estate for fourteen years.
Appreciated and befriended by a royal benefactor when she
thought her cause was lost, Ms. Mansour overcame the many
barriers set before Saudi businesswomen and now is passing on
her entrepreneurial fighting spirit to three US-educated
daughters. Her experience suggests a potential focus for USG
programming on the women of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce
and Industry. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Fourteen years ago when her husband died and left
Aziza Mansour the real estate and automotive spare parts
company they had started together, Aziza had no idea she
would become the first woman in the Middle East to be granted
a RE/MAX franchise. Nor could she have imagined the
challenging road she would travel to achieve that end. Left
with 4 children, the youngest of whom was only 5 days old,
Aziza, a woman now in her fifties, found that local
regulations did not allow her to register the company in her
own name, nor officially to practice the real estate
business. Legal commercial registration was only granted to
men. Such restrictions, pervasive in Saudi Arabia, are
principal deterrents to women's entry into the economy.

FLYING UNDER THE RADAR
=========================

3. (SBU) Despite isolated examples of limited progress on
paper, reality for Saudi women today is that they must either
"fly under the radar," fight numerous governmental
authorities, or permit a man to become the official owner and
manager of their business in order to set up shop. At first
Aziza flew under the radar, working for more than 12 years
under the license of &spare parts dealer8 while she built
houses, office buildings and warehouses -- a total of 21
projects -- on the land she inherited from her late husband.
She then proceeded to either rent or sell these developed
properties. Eventually she brought her three grown daughters
into the business and, based on her broad experience in
property development, RE/MAX granted her a franchise two
years ago.

4. (C) Having obtained the recognition of an international
property company, Aziza thought she was finally in position
to request and receive a license to deal in real property
from her own country. For months, she approached the Jeddah
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI),the Ministry of
Commerce and the Governor of Makkah without success. All
refused to grant her this license unless she would appoint a
male manager. Having made a success of herself on her own,
she refused and instead continued to fight for her
entrepreneurial rights. As she tells it, she believed she
had the qualifications and experience needed without having
to employ a male stranger to represent her.

ROYAL INTERVENTION
====================

5. (C) In October 2006, Okaz Arabic newspaper interviewed
Aziza and published a detailed story outlining her
experiences and the roadblocks she was encountering from all
levels of government. In the interview, she called for more
independence for businesswomen and for their right to deal
and invest in real estate without &hiding behind a man,s
name.8 Princess Dr. Munira al Bawardi, the wife of Prince
Mishal Bin Abdulaziz, the King's brother, read the story and
took up Aziza's cause, personally contacting the Minister of
Commerce to facilitate her registration. Reportedly, the
Ministry didn't make it easy for her, requiring her to write
an essay outlining all her experience in real estate and
explaining why she required the license. A year and a half
ago Aziza finally received her realtor's license. She claims
that thus far she is the only woman in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia who has been granted this right.

6. (U) Aziza Mansour came to Pol/EconOff's attention in
November 2008 in an article in the Saudi Gazette with an
accompanying photo of a large group of Saudi women touring
the sales center at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).
Aziza had been selling property there as a sub-subcontractor
and decided to eliminate the middle-man and enter into a
direct relationship with Emaar EC, the general contractor for
the project -- the largest private development project in the
world. She transported her potential clients, many of whom
hail from the wealthiest Jeddah families, to the KAEC site to
market the property. And through her mostly female staff of
real estate sales agents, she does the same in and around

JEDDAH 00000538 002 OF 002


Jeddah, catering to both female and male clients.

SEEKING HELP FROM OTHER WELL-PLACED WOMEN
============================================= ==

7. (C) Aziza asserts that the career of real estate broker
is exceptionally well-suited to Saudi women since they can
work from home, set their hours around the demands of family,
and work at the pace they desire. Aziza even makes male
associates available to show property to male clients if a
female agent is not comfortable showing the property herself.
Recently, she approached the women board members of the JCCI
with a proposal to open a training academy to train women to
sell property. She reports that she was told that too many
government approvals would be required and essentially was
turned down. This sort of roadblock is not unusual here,
demonstrating that even those women nominally in a position
to advance the cause of women's economic development have
insufficient training, experience, and support to help the
thousands of eager, educated women in Saudi Arabia who seek
employment or simply the tools to start their own businesses.

8. (U) Aziza Mansour has at least passed the torch to her
own daughters. All three daughters hold graduate degrees
from the U.S. and stand poised one day to break down more
barriers, following the example set by their highly
exceptional mother. Effat Bin Yaqoub was registered by the
JCCI last February as the first female real estate appraiser
in the Kingdom. Another daughter, Olfat, now holds a
position in strategic development at Emaar while continuing
to work with her mother's company.

9. (C) Comment: Considering the difficulty Aziza Mansour
faced when she reached out to the women leaders at the JCCI,
women who are uniquely positioned to assist vanguard women
such as Aziza in navigating unfriendly government entities,
there is a potential role for the USG in bringing more
training and development to the women at the JCCI in order to
help them to realize and then exercise their advocacy powers.
Current focus is largely on reforming institutions and
rewriting laws. But unless these reforms are applied to real
cases, their work may be for naught. End comment.
QUINN