Yusuf Al-Muhaimeed
NOBODY will disagree that what the countries of the world are suffering from, especially with the existence of pressing economic crises, is companies and establishments cutting their expenses. An example of such pressing economic crises is the recent global crisis of 2008. Austerity measures reached the level of laying-off workers, hence increasing unemployment rate. This causes concern, as there is always a direct relation between the rise in a country’s unemployment rate, and an increase in crime rate and spread of drug abuse, leading to socio-political instability in the country.
At the same time, countries are looking for any possible solution to reduce unemployment rates as well as forge stability and continuity of economic growth. Perhaps, what we face mostly in the rise of the general unemployment rate, for both sexes, is the decreasing job opportunities for women.
Hence this makes innovative solutions that will provide Saudi women with more job opportunities an ideal way to reduce the unemployment rate, especially by providing workingwomen with good work environments, including a comfortable and safe workplace. This is the case, especially with the increasing activity in selling via social media and the support for productive families as these activities fall within the spheres for small enterprises in the private sector.
These productive families are still an important subject and a good support for the national economy, especially when we think seriously about their activities and distinctive products.
Among the good initiatives taken by the Ministry of Social Affairs is publishing the final draft of a regulation for productive families on its website. The aim is to generate discussion and search for suitable sales outlets to boost the sale of family-made products.
Another important goal is to enable the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs to allocate plots of land in the cities to market family products.
This project is striving to allocate suitable locations in public places where many people gather. Such places include public parks, promenades, markets, beaches and seasonal open areas, among others.
They are important places for setting up small stalls free of charge or at nominal fees to sell family products. The activities of these families can extend to include canteens in schools. These canteens will grant them a wide commercial sector and a secure and comfortable work environment.
Such a system that aims to expand the participation of women, people with special needs and the unemployed in the economic development of the country and convert consumer families to productive families means that we are moving in the right direction towards converting a society that has been known to be a consumer society to a productive society on par with many societies in the world.
By organizing the sale of products via social media with the aim of boosting confidence in such outlets, the ministry grants such families that engage in e-commerce a credible place among consumers. The integration of institutional work to organize and support these productive families will achieve important results, boosting economic development and decreasing the unemployment rate.
