More Saudi women are joining the workforce as the kingdom presses on with its reform agenda to boost female employment by lifting a driving ban and opening positions in previously male-dominated sectors.
Employment among Saudi women increased about 9 per cent to 593,356 in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago, according to government data from the General Authority for Statistics in Riyadh.
The total number of Saudis working in the private sector increased 5.7 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier. The rate of total Saudi unemployment remained unchanged at 12.9 per cent.
The country aims to diversify its economy and reduce its reliance on oil with the Vision 2030 as a blueprint for its economic reform. Part of the plan is to lift women's participation in the workforce to 30 per cent by 2030, from 22 per cent. The world's biggest oil exporter lifted a driving ban on women in June. An estimated three million women are forecast to be driving in the kingdom by 2020, according to a PwC survey. The kingdom is opening opportunities for Saudi women in typically male-dominated sectors, including top banking roles, cabin crew and air-traffic controllers.
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The rate of Saudi women's economic participation reached 19.6 per cent in the second quarter compared with 18.7 per cent in the year-ago period, the data showed.
Education, health, social services and retail were the biggest sectors employing Saudi women in the second quarter, according to the report.
The kingdom's economic growth is set to rise to 2.5 per cent by the end of this year and 2.7 per cent in 2019, up from 2017 when low oil prices squeezed state revenue and hampered growth, Moody's Investors Service told The National last month. Higher oil prices and an increase in oil production underpin the credit rating agency's economic forecast.
EMIRATES'S REVISED A350 DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULE
Edinburgh: November 4 (unchanged)
Bahrain: November 15 (from September 15); second daily service from January 1
Kuwait: November 15 (from September 16)
Mumbai: January 1 (from October 27)
Ahmedabad: January 1 (from October 27)
Colombo: January 2 (from January 1)
Muscat: March 1 (from December 1)
Lyon: March 1 (from December 1)
Bologna: March 1 (from December 1)
Source: Emirates
Company Profile
Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices
UAE athletes heading to Paris 2024
Equestrian
Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi, Abdullah Al Marri, Omar Al Marzooqi, Salem Al Suwaidi, and Ali Al Karbi (four to be selected).
Judo
Men: Narmandakh Bayanmunkh (66kg), Nugzari Tatalashvili (81kg), Aram Grigorian (90kg), Dzhafar Kostoev (100kg), Magomedomar Magomedomarov (+100kg); women's Khorloodoi Bishrelt (52kg).
Cycling
Safia Al Sayegh (women's road race).
Swimming
Men: Yousef Rashid Al Matroushi (100m freestyle); women: Maha Abdullah Al Shehi (200m freestyle).
Athletics
Maryam Mohammed Al Farsi (women's 100 metres).
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
Sukuk
An Islamic bond structured in a way to generate returns without violating Sharia strictures on prohibition of interest.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
Stan Lee
Director: David Gelb
Rating: 3/5
A cheaper choice
Vanuatu: $130,000
Why on earth pick Vanuatu? Easy. The South Pacific country has no income tax, wealth tax, capital gains or inheritance tax. And in 2015, when it was hit by Cyclone Pam, it signed an agreement with the EU that gave it some serious passport power.
Cost: A minimum investment of $130,000 for a family of up to four, plus $25,000 in fees.
Criteria: Applicants must have a minimum net worth of $250,000. The process take six to eight weeks, after which the investor must travel to Vanuatu or Hong Kong to take the oath of allegiance. Citizenship and passport are normally provided on the same day.
Benefits: No tax, no restrictions on dual citizenship, no requirement to visit or reside to retain a passport. Visa-free access to 129 countries.
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
