VZCZCXRO9705
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHJI #0257/01 0921422
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 021422Z APR 06
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8988
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 6339
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000257 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP; 
PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2016 
TAGS: ECON KDEM KWMN PGOV SA
SUBJECT: WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION LACKLUSTER IN JEDDAH CHAMBER 
OF COMMERCE 
 
REF: A. 2005 JEDDAH 3455 
     ¶B. 2005 JEDDAH 4941 
     ¶C. 2005 JEDDAH 4949 
     ¶D. 2005 JEDDAH 4967 
     ¶E. 2005 JEDDAH 4925 
 
Classified By: Management Officer Hector Morales for reasons 
1.4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1.   (C) SUMMARY. In the wake of the historic November 2005 
election for the board of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and 
Industry (JCCI), in which two female candidates were 
victorious, participation by women in JCCI affairs has been 
limited, and, in an April 1, 2006 election, only one woman 
ran for one of 75 open seats on JCCI constituent committees. 
Lackluster participation by women may be attributable both to 
hostility to women's progress among some men in the Jeddah 
business class, and to indifference among many businesswomen. 
Jeddah gold merchants boycotted the election in protest over 
a requirement that 100% of their employees be Saudi, and 
threatened to do business in the Kingdom as foreign firms to 
avoid the regulation. END SUMMARY. 
 
FIRST JCCI ELECTION SINCE HISTORIC VICTORY BY TWO FEMALE 
CANDIDATES 
 
¶2.   (U) On April 1, 2006, the JCCI held elections for seats 
on five of its constituent committees. This was the first 
JCCI election since the historic November 26-29, 2005 board 
election, which was the first election of any kind in Saudi 
Arabia in which women were permitted to run as candidates 
(reftel A). In that election, female candidates secured two 
of the twelve elected seats on the JCCI board (reftel B), a 
stunning victory which was celebrated at the time as a 
significant advance for Saudi women and as proof that Jeddah 
is on the cutting edge of social change in the Kingdom 
(reftel C). (NOTE. The JCCI board consists of twelve elected 
members and six members appointed by the Ministry of Commerce 
and Industry. The Ministry subsequently appointed two 
additional women to the board (reftel D). END NOTE.) 
 
"WOMEN DO NOT PARTICIPATE" IN THE JCCI 
 
¶3.   (U) This time around, only one woman ran in the JCCI 
election. Howaida Samy Al Aosta was one of 22 candidates 
seeking a seat on the real estate committee; she won a seat, 
placing in the top 15. Twenty-nine lawyers vied for seats on 
their committee, and 18, 17, and 16 candidates ran for, 
respectively, the contractors, commercial, and private 
schools committees. 
 
¶4.   (C) Conoff observed the opening of the polls at the JCCI 
offices and was shown around by Sharaf al-Sharif, the Western 
Region Branch Manager of the Saudi Export Development Center, 
an organization established under the auspices of the Council 
of Saudi Chambers of Commerce to promote Saudi exports (other 
than petroleum). Conoff was present for more than half of the 
time during which the polls were open, but did not see a 
single one of the JCCI's estimated 3,000 female members. 
After asking where the women's polls were located, Conoff was 
informed that there was no separate polling place for women. 
The Florida State-educated al-Sharif acknowledged the low 
turnout among female JCCI members and said, "Women do not 
participate" in JCCI activities. "This is a shame," he added, 
"but I believe it will be at least ten years before women 
participate normally." He said he understood why women may 
feel uncomfortable becoming actively in JCCI affairs, noting 
that "many men are hostile to their being here." 
 
¶5.   (C) NOTE AND COMMENT. In the November board election, 
even after the Ministry of Commerce's eleventh-hour decision 
to permit women to stand as candidates, which set the stage 
for the first election in Saudi history in which women 
participated on equal terms with men, turnout among women was 
extremely low, with fewer than 100 of the 3,000 female JCCI 
members casting ballots (reftel E). While international 
observers have read recent elections in the JCCI and other 
Saudi chambers of commerce like tea leaves, searching for 
evidence of nascent democracy and theretofore unseen shifts 
in societal attitudes toward women in Saudi Arabia, Saudi 
businesswomen seem to be generally indifferent to the 
elections. END NOTE AND COMMENT. 
 
GOLD MERCHANTS' BOYCOTT 
 
 
JEDDAH 00000257  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6.   (U) Consulate contacts reported that gold merchants 
boycotted the committee elections in an effort to pressure 
the Ministry of Commerce to drop its 100% Saudization 
requirement (i.e., mandatory employment of Saudis) for their 
businesses. Merchants have reportedly threatened to cancel 
their Saudi commercial registrations, transfer their 
businesses to Dubai or other Gulf countries, and then operate 
in Saudi Arabia as foreign firms, thereby lowering their 
Saudi employment requirement to 25%. Contacts have said that 
the JCCI will soon hold an emergency meeting to address the 
merchants' demands. 
Gfoeller