Fatima Muhammad

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — Twenty-nine women, out of the 6,000 women registered at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), are participating in the current elections for a spot in the chamber’s committees.



Mohyi Al-Deen Hakami, the deputy secretary general of the JCCI said that the low number of women participants is due to the fact that women are new in participating in committees’ elections. Previously women were appointed to the committees and not elected.



Another factor, he said, which could have weighed on the numbers is the absence of a young businesswomen committee, which was previously a home for women.



Asked about the reasons behind rescinding the young businesswomen committee, he said, “We are eager to have the committee again, as it paid off great last season. We will either appoint women to the restarted panel or merge their committee with the young businessmen committee which has businessmen who are below 40 years old.”



There are 370 candidates, 29 of which are women, standing for election in the JCCI. Only 228 of them will be elected to the 19 different committees. Each committee will have 12 elected members; JCCI board will choose 6 other members. At a later stage another election will be held to choose the heads of the committees.



Women are present in the young businessmen committee and the contracting committee. The private schools have 26 candidates, 12 of which are women. Six women are showing up in the employment and training committee elections, four in the consultation offices, two in cloths and material committee out of 23.



However, a number of committees are witnessing the participation of only one woman. This includes the real estate committee, minerals and valuable stones, printing, marketing and advertisement.



No women are present in number of committees that include, lawyers, engineering offices, car stores, food, livestock, real estate valuing committee, home supplies and electronic machines, and the health committee. Some 200 businessmen and businesswomen are now choosing their representatives in JCCI’s 19 different committees. The elections started yesterday at Al-Masfaq (where business deals are made) and the final results are expected to be announced Thursday.



Adnan Mandoura, JCCI general-secretary, commented on the low participation on Sunday by saying, “We expect the numbers to increase during the last days as usual.”



He added that the first day of election has passed “with almost no violations,” and added that they have appointed 80 employees to ease the election process. The staff are charged with renewing registration, getting information and doing other tasks.



Mandoura said the system being used by JCCI in these election is a leading example in Saudi Chambers of Commerce polls. The new system will be enable JCCI to announce the final results within five minutes after the end of the election period next Thursday, said Mandoura.