Arab women to press for a bigger role in banking industry

Female bankers and businesswomen from the UAE and other Arab countries will gather in Saudi Arabia next month for a conference that will focus on seeking a bigger role in the region's banking and financial sector, organisers said.

Princess Jawahir bin Nayef, wife of the Emir of the Saudi Eastern province, will patronise the December 9-10 conference titled "Expanding the Arab businesswomen's role in the financial and banking sector".

More than 150 women from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and other Arab countries will participate in the conference in Dammam, the first of its kind in the region, the Federation of the GCC Chambers of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

"The conference will aim to highlight the need to integrate Arab women into the development process and allow them to participate more actively in economic and financial activities. It will also underscore the obstacles and challenges facing Arab businesswomen in obtaining senior banking jobs," it said.

Businesswomen and female bankers will present papers on the need to give Arab women a greater role in the banking and financial sector in the region while other speakers will highlight their part in the economic development following the global financial crisis.

"The main session at the conference will highlight the role of the Arab women in the banking sector and obstacles facing them in reaching senior posts in banks. It will also discuss whether Arab women are capable in managing and operating banks. The aim of the conference is to underscore the need for giving women a bigger role in the banking and financial sector and allowing them to undertake their responsibilities in the domestic economy," the statement said.

Addressing a recent conference on women in Abu Dhabi, a UAE scholar urged GCC nations to issue new legislation to encourage females to take up jobs in various sectors and end discrimination against them.

Dr Fatima Al Shamsi, Secretary-General of the Al Ain-based UAE University, said women's participation in the labour market in the GCC has remained low despite some progress over the past years.

She blamed what it described as "bias and discrimination" against female workers, the high presence of foreign labour and social factors. "There is an urgent need for the GCC to enact new laws to prevent this bias against women in the labour market," she said.

"What we see is a sort of non-equality between men and women in jobs, especially when it comes to promotion to a decision-making position. Another reason is the high concentration of foreign labour in the private sector. GCC states need to step up the policy of replacement of this labour."

Her figures showed there has been a big leap in female participation in jobs in the six members since early 1960s but she added that the percentage has remained too low compared to other countries. She put it at around 15-24 per cent which "is far below the required level and ambitions".

Dr Fatima said female workers in the GCC are concentrated in a handful of sectors, mainly services and trade. "Most of them are in the public sector. Another problem is women's income is much lower than male workers. In Saudi Arabia, the income of female workers is only 16 per cent of male workers, which is the lowest level in the GCC. We need to enact laws to redress this problem," she said.

"What is required also is to provide more training for women, convince families to encourage their women to work and drop the attitude the woman's work is not a necessity. We need to eliminate all cultural and social barriers and push women into non-traditional job fields."

Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.