During the Sessions of the Fifth Gulf Businesswomen Forum held in mid-March

An elite group of the Gulf businesswomen discuss the ways to support the economic development and empowerment of the women in the region

On Wednesday 15/3/2023, under the patronage of His Royal Highness (HRH) Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Governor of Makkah Province, His Highness Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Jalawi, Governor of Jeddah, will inaugurate the events of the Fifth Gulf Businesswomen Forum 2023 and the accompanying exhibition under the theme "Gulf Women: Between Empowerment and Leadership", with the participation of more than 1,000 persons from various Gulf and Arab countries, where the Forum will last for two days.

The Forum is organized by the Federation of Chambers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the Federation of Saudi Chambers, and the Jeddah Chamber aims to enhance the Businesswomen's role in the chambers of the GCC countries, adopt the economic performance indicator for the businesswomen sector and the extent of its contribution to the domestic product as well as exchange of the ideas in the field of enhancing the women's status, empowerment, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Mr. Hassan bin Mujab Al-Huwaizi, the Chairman of the BOD of the Federation of Chambers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and President of the Federation of Saudi Chambers, explained that the Forum will address the issues related to empowerment of the women as an active and influential partner in the growth and development process, to achieve the GCC leaders' aspirations, where he stressed that the Federation of Chambers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries is keen to provide the necessary support to empower the women in various fields and enhance their participation in the economic renaissance experienced by the GCC countries.

On his part, Mr. Mohammed Yousef Naghi, Chairman of the BOD of the Jeddah Chamber, pointed out the continuous work to empower the women in the leadership fields, enhance their role in various economic sectors, pay attention to and support the female entrepreneurs to achieve the competitive advantage for business and highlight the women's role in the economic development of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, where it will be reflected in the Forum's sessions and their key topics as well as the strategic partnerships to be held, which we hope will achieve the desirable aspirations.

Mrs. Sarah Ayed Al-Ayed, a member of the BOD of the Jeddah Chamber, stressed the importance of the fifth edition of the Forum which coincides with International Women’s Day, which will have a clear indication in focusing on the high status which the women have reached in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in general and the businesswomen who receive support from GCC leaders, thus enabling them to achieve great successes. Mrs. Sarah Ayed Al-Ayed hoped that the Forum will achieve the desirable results, and that its deliverables will meet the aspirations.

The Forum includes four sessions, the first session is entitled "Gulf Businesswomen's Role in Planning, Economic Development and Sustainability thereof", the second session will review the cooperation among the Gulf businesswomen at the Gulf level and launch of the joint initiatives, the third session will deal with the successes of Gulf women in the world of finance and business, and the fourth session will review growth of the women entrepreneurship in the Kingdom, findings of the GEM 2016-2022.

The Forum includes a number of workshops, where the trainer/ Afnan Al-Babtain will present a workshop entitled "The Female Entrepreneur’s Journey with Monshaat Services - From Idea to Growth" in which she will review the female entrepreneur's attributes, the opportunities for growth of the women’s enterprises, and their services. Moreover, Weam Saeed Al-Johani, Entrepreneurship and Quality Advisor, will present a workshop entitled "Women’s Opportunities in Entrepreneurship" through which she will deal with the concept and fundamentals of entrepreneurship, male and female entrepreneurs' attributes, role of the creativity and innovation in the entrepreneurship, the available opportunities for the women, and the areas of entrepreneurial projects.