This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 009366 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DHAHRAN SENDS 
PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2015 
TAGS: ECON PGOV SCUL KMPI SA
SUBJECT: EP BUSINESSWOMEN TAKE FIRST LOOK AT NEW 
OPPORTUNITIES AT THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 
 
REF: A. JEDDAH 4925 (NOTAL) 
     ¶B. RIYADH 5240 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified By: Consul General John Kincannon for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
. 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Following the trend in Jeddah and Riyadh, the 
Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce elections in early 
February will be open to women, both as voters and as 
candidates.  As of December 17, out of a total of 44 
candidates five are women.  December 18th is the last day to 
register. The EP Chamber of Commerce has held information 
sessions for businesswomen, both for members of the small 
advisory group to the chamber on women,s issues and for the 
larger membership.  Some businesswomen remain skeptical as to 
the benefits of this development. End Summary. 
 
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INTRODUCING ELECTIONS TO SAUDI WOMEN IN THE EP 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (U) On December 12th the Eastern Province Chamber of 
Commerce held a special information session for the chamber's 
20-person advisory group for women,s issues.  This session 
was to encourage women to run for the board.  Another 
information session was held on December 17th, and was open 
to all of the businesswomen registered with the Chamber. 
This session included information on how to register as a 
candidate and a voter, the selection of election monitors, 
the timeline of related events, and how to fill out ballots. 
 
¶3. (C) Some women remain skeptical, both of the process and 
of the candidates. "What's the advantage to fighting for one 
spot on an 18-member board with 6 people appointed by the 
government?" asked Ghaida Al Juraifani, a female business 
owner in Al Khobar. Al Juraifani runs her own training and 
consulting business from her home.  For the past two years 
she has been part of the advisory group of 20 women.  She 
told the PAO that when she asked "What do members of the 
chamber do?" the presenter replied "Members can go to 
conferences and the trip will be paid for by the Chamber of 
Commerce". 
 
¶4. (C) Similar skepticism was portrayed during the 
information session open to the entire membership.  Forty 
businesswomen attended this session, which was focused on 
information needed by voters, rather than candidates.  (Note 
and comment: Two men presented to the group of women, and 
while pictures were "absolutely not allowed", most of the 
women did not wear face veils during the mixed session.  This 
in itself was unusual; no workshop sponsored by the Ministry 
of Education, for instance, would have allowed men and women 
in the same room.  End note and comment.) 
 
¶5. (C) The women were interested in the details of the 
eligibility conditions and complained about the short notice 
of their participation.  Princess  Masha'al bint Faisal bin 
Turki, a businesswoman who works in education, said that as a 
result the government should appoint more women than men. 
"The men will be angry," laughed the presenter, who worked in 
the Ministry of Industry's Chamber of Commerce Department. 
"Let the men be angry!" replied the princess. One woman from 
the Shi'a town of Qatif asked what the purpose of running 
would be, beyond just having the prestige of the position. 
"What does the board actually do?" The presenters had little 
to say in response. 
 
¶6. (C) The five female candidates include women who are 
members of prominent families but do not necessarily run 
businesses. "I'm not voting for any of the women," said Al 
Juraifani.  "Why should I? None of them knows anything about 
business." The real way to support progress for women, 
according to Al Juraifani, is to support the training and 
development of female entrepreneurs, so that there would be 
qualified women to run for office. 
 
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SLOW STARTS 
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¶7. (SBU) The Jeddah and Riyadh Chambers of Commerce allowed 
women to participate in elections earlier this year, although 
female candidates were not allowed in Riyadh.  In both 
places, small fractions of the total women registered as 
members turned up to vote (ref A). In the Eastern Province, 
700 women are listed as members of the Chamber of Commerce, 
and the official from the Ministry of Industry said that 
about 350 of these meet all of the conditions to be eligible 
to vote. According to Al Juraifani just 100 are active 
businesswomen and 50 regularly show up for the 'Women's 
Center' meetings (ref B). 
¶8. (C) In the EP, five women have signed up to run so far; 
the last day to register as a candidate is December 18th. The 
problem, says Juraifani, is that there are no platforms, no 
positions; people have no additional information about what 
candidates stand for. Generally, Juraifani said, the women 
know even less about the male candidates. Still, the Chamber 
of Commerce is trying to do some democracy training. The 
Businesswomen's Center at the Chamber of Commerce has invited 
the female candidates from Jeddah to share their experience 
with elections. 
 
(APPROVED: KINCANNON) 
GFOELLER