Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Faisal, president of the Saudi Federation of Motor Sports and Motorcycles, called on Saudi women to invest in the great transformation witnessed by the Saudi society today.

He made his comments as he was inaugurating the first forum and exhibition to coincide with the lifting of the ban on women driving in the country called "Laki Al-Qiada", or "Driving is Yours” on Sunday night at Laylaty hall here in Jeddah.

He jointly opened the forum with Suhail Al-Tayar, the executive director of the forum. The two-day exhibition and forum, that ended Monday, is aimed at providing a platform for women to discuss and share ideas regarding their empowerment in all sectors of the economy.

Prince Khalid toured the exhibition area where he was introduced to the latest model of cars exhibited by major auto dealers and listened to the special offers displayed for women.

In his keynote, the president of the Saudi Federation of Motor Sports and Motorcycles also urged women to take advantage of conducive environments being created by their government to play active roles in socio-economic development.

He expected that the women driving contributes to the provision of a large number of job opportunities and will help women to enter the labor market and achieve one of the pillars of the vision of the country to raise the participation rate of women from 22% to 30%.

While touring the exhibition, he praised the remarkable presence of the Saudi women in organizing the forum and those young women working in the exhibition. He stressed that they present a wonderful example of the great power enjoyed by Saudi women when they address the responsibility. He also praised the participating companies in the pavilions and valued their efforts in supporting the country's efforts.

Meanwhile, Suhail Al-Tayar, the executive director of the event said that the positive reactions at the local and external levels of women driving in Saudi Arabia were the main reason behind the establishment of the first event of its kind, which monitors the opportunities, services, and facilities in the Kingdom for women.

He pointed out that the impact of women driving in Saudi Arabia will have positive results and will also provide about 50,000 jobs during the first year.

The first day witnessed discussion sessions and working papers on women's leadership presented by Dr. Ali bin Othman Milibari, President of Saudi Traffic Safety Society, Khalid Mashhoor, Vice Chairman of the Founding Committee of the Labor Committees and Manal Al Shareef, Managing Editor of Al Bilad newspaper and Iqra magazine.