Saudi Arabia is seen taking revolutionary steps towards an evolved yet modernized lifestyle. In some of its many recent, groundbreaking moves the nation is observed to be abolishing ages-old cultural bans. Amongst one of its several moves towards driving the economy of Saudi Arabia, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, welcomed more women to become a part of the overall workforce by hosting a one-of-its-kind business forum especially for women.
The Women in Leadership Economic Forum known as the “Let’s Talk About Tomorrow” is aimed at portraying the Kingdom’s leading female business leaders to ensure the demonstration of the critical role that women play in driving the future of Saudi Arabia’s economy.
The two-day long event was hosted in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, and approximately 900+ business leaders and entrepreneurs marked their presence in it. It put limelight upon a relatively new practice in Saudi Arabia, i.e. networking opportunities between the men and women of the country.
Saudi Arabia’s first female boxing trainer who founded the Flagboxing training center, Halah Alhamrani, spoke at the event. In addition, the event was flooded by more than 300 young female students from universities across Saudi Arabia. The students, even though accounted for almost half of Saudi Arabia’s graduates, still struggled finding work for themselves. The event boosted their confidence and scope of finding work alongside the men of Saudi Arabia, giving them a voice of their own which was suppressed under cultural restrictions for ages.
Reportedly, only 22 percent of the entire Saudi Arabian workforce comprises of women which is expected to rise up to 30 percent by 2030 following the current move of welcoming women-centric workforce.
Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is working to reshape the economy of Saudi Arabia and reduce the kingdom’s sole dependence on oil revenue. The event saw coordination from the country’s state-run oil company, Saudi Aramco, which sponsored the event.
Looking at the intensity at which Saudi Arabia is adopting openness and is rising above cultural refrains, the nation is expected to soon see the difference of being ruled by a relatively younger Crown Prince like, Mohammad Bin Salman.
