Saudis Target More Female Workforce Participation

(MENAFN- Brazil-Arab News Agency (ANBA)) São Paulo – The finance minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, said on Wednesday (30) in Riyadh that the country aims to have 40% of its workforce composed of women by the end of this decade. The statement was made during the 8th edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII ).

The minister said target of the Vision 2030 plan, which aims to diversify the Saudi economy beyond oil, was for women to make up 30% of the workforce by 2030. This percentage, he said, is at 35% in 2024 and could reach 40% by 2030.“And I think we will be able to achieve that,” said the minister.

“If you look at women's [workforce] participation today, not only as employees but also as entrepreneurs, it is significant. We doubled the number of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the last seven years. What is interesting is that 45% of these are female-led SMEs,” said Al-Jadaan.

At the event, the minister also said the production of the non-oil sector already accounts for 52% of the Saudi economy and that nearly 87% of the targets set by the Vision 2030 plan have already been met. The unemployment rate among Saudis is 7.1%. The goal for 2030 is to reduce it to 7%.

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Translated by Guilherme Miranda

©Fayez Nureldine/AFP

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