Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09JEDDAH473
2009-12-14 13:23:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Jeddah
Cable title:  

FIRST SAUDI WOMAN DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF CHAMBER OF

Tags:  ECON KWMN PGOV SA SOCI 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5357
PP RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDIR RUEHROV
DE RUEHJI #0473/01 3481323
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 141323Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1653
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 8631
RUEHDH/AMCONSUL DHAHRAN 0192
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCNDTA/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0119
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000473 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, EEB/ESC, DRL, NEA/PPD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2019
TAGS: ECON KWMN PGOV SA SOCI
SUBJECT: FIRST SAUDI WOMAN DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE: PRESSING THE GLASS CEILING

REF: A. JEDDAH 391

B. JEDDAH 453

C. JEDDAH 465 AND PREVIOUS

JEDDAH 00000473 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Consul General Martin R. Quinn for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)

Summary and comment
--------------------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000473

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, EEB/ESC, DRL, NEA/PPD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2019
TAGS: ECON KWMN PGOV SA SOCI
SUBJECT: FIRST SAUDI WOMAN DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE: PRESSING THE GLASS CEILING

REF: A. JEDDAH 391

B. JEDDAH 453

C. JEDDAH 465 AND PREVIOUS

JEDDAH 00000473 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Consul General Martin R. Quinn for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)

Summary and comment
--------------


1. (C) In a historic vote, the 18 members of the board of
directors of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(JCCI) elected a woman as deputy chairman, and several
well-respected moderate businessmen to fill other leadership
positions. No religious or tribal figures were chosen,
despite their strong showing in the general election. The
new board is focused on assisting victims of flash floods
that struck Jeddah on November 25, as the JCCI -- one of a
handful of authorized non-governmental organizations -- has
taken the lead in collecting and distributing aid. While
lacking a reformist agenda of the previous board, it seems
unlikely to roll back the gains made by businesswomen during
the past four years, and uniting to deal with a crisis may
avert the predicted disputes among conservative and
progressive board members. End Summary and comment.


A woman deputy chairman
--------------


2. (C) Two months after highly contested elections (ref A)
for 12 members and long-awaited appointments by the Minister
of Trade of the other six (ref B),the board of directors of
the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) met
December 7 and chose its leaders. In a historic vote, the 18
members elected a woman, Lama Sulaiman, deputy chairman --
the highest position reached by a woman at any Saudi chamber
of commerce. The board also unanimously elected as chairman
-- as widely expected -- the highly respected major
businessman/land developer and President of the Islamic
Chamber Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, who appeared at the
press conference announcing the results in a wheel chair.
Until very recently, Kamel was in Germany undergoing
emergency medical treatment and his return to Jeddah in
better health surprised many. The other deputy chairman,
Mazen Batterjee, was a carry-over from the old board, and a

female JCCI employee expressed satisfaction at his election,
saying he would support businesswomen. Abdullah Bin Mahfouz
-- alleged in the press and by contacts to have bought votes
in the race for the JCCI board of directors -- was chosen the
JCCI's representative to the Council for Saudi Chambers of
Commerce and Industry, a federation of all 25 Saudi Chambers
of Commerce.

Religious conservatives blocked
--------------


3. (C) No conservatives were elected to leadership positions
on the new board, despite their strong showing at the polls
in the general board election. Contrary to expectations,
there have been no reports of the most conservative new JCCI
board member, Bassam Al-Akhdar, who campaigned against women
mixing with men at the JCCI, refusing to meet with female
JCCI board members or clashing with moderates -- as he did
during the JCCI general election, according to unsuccessful
female candidates. During his four years on the Jeddah
Municipal Council, Akhdar has refused to speak with any
female citizens or female diplomats, leading liberal city
councilmen who have served with Akhdar to predict he would
demand gender-segregated JCCI board meetings. According to
Al Riyadh newspaper, Sulaiman denied to reporters that there
had been any objections to her candidacy for deputy chairman
on the grounds it violated Saudi religious prohibitions on
genders "mixing," Speaking privately to the Consul General a
few weeks earlier, Sulaiman recalled that when she assumed
her position as a JCCI Board member five years ago, the
religious police (Commission for Promotion of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice, or mutawa) had ruled that men and women
could not use the same entrance, but she circumvented that
obstacle by telling the enforcers that women would enter at 9
a.m. and men would arrive at 10. At first, she said, men were

JEDDAH 00000473 002.2 OF 002


uncomfortable having her at board meetings, but gradually
many changed their attitude and now some actually ask her to
sit next to them during meetings. Sulaiman's husband (also
her cousin),Tarek Khaled Al-Sulaiman, last month predicted
she would win over the conservatives eventually, saying her
strategy is to work slowly and avoid confrontations.


After the flood, back to business as usual
--------------


4. (SBU) The new board, having been selected individually
rather than as a slate, lacks the ambitious reform agenda of
its predecessor. The new chairman told the press he was not
a miracle worker, just a businessman appointed by the
Minister of Trade, although Kamel vowed to continue the work
begun by previous boards. When asked about Sulaiman's new
post, Kamel reportedly replied that Saudi "women need to take
their rightful place in society and work hand in hand with
men." The board's current priority is coping with the
aftermath of the flash floods that displaced thousands of
Jeddawis. The JCCI, as one of the few officially permitted
non-governmental organizations, has taken the lead in relief
efforts (ref C). Kamel told the press -- which has published
countless articles criticizing the local government's failure
to prevent or cope with the floods -- that "the private
sector was equally to blame in the natural disaster. The
roads, bridges and tunnels which were damaged by the water
were executed by contractors and businessmen from the private
sector."


The new deputy "chairwoman": one of the boys in an abaya
-------------- --------------


5. (C) Sulaiman is overseeing the work of hundreds of
volunteers distributing food, water, and supplies to Jeddah
flood victims. A member of one of Jeddah's leading merchant
families, Sulaiman is well-regarded in the Jeddah business
community for her hard work in improving services to Jeddah
businesspeople, such as launching the Jeddah Economic
Gateway, a website with business information. She also
serves as a trustee of the JCCI businesswomen's center, and
broke ground for Saudi women with her election to the JCCI
board of directors in 2005. Sulaiman's husband, although
appreciative of her public contributions, wishes that she
would focus more attention on the family businesses.


6. (C) Sulaiman told the Consul General the secret of her
success is to behave just like the guys do -- i.e., be direct
and aggressive in targeting the electorate who are most
likely to vote and call upon family reputation (who my father
is, what my family connections are),"what I can do for you,"
and be very direct about asking for support and votes.
UK-educated Ph.D. bio-chemist, quietly confident, married
mother of four, and (5-year) breast cancer survivor, Lama
said that most Saudi women are not conditioned to behave like
men -- especially in the presence of Saudi males. Her
incumbency, having learned the ropes at JCCI, and her
merchant family background gave her clear advantages, she
noted. At the same time, Sulaiman always dresses
conservatively with abaya and head covering in public,
although in private she wears western clothes and belongs to
a westernized social circle that hosts private parties,
sometimes including alcohol.


7. (C) Comment. Having had to deal with a crisis in its
first few weeks, the new board -- composed of disparate
individuals from a variety of backgrounds -- may be able to
overcome its differences and unite to build a better future
for Jeddah. With the focus on reconstruction, and widespread
public appreciation of the hundreds of female volunteers who
aided flood victims while male public employees were
unreachable, the religious conservatives may find it
difficult to implement their campaign promises to roll back
the gains made by Jeddah businesswomen. End comment.
QUINN