Saudi Arabia: Makkah Businesswomen Decry Poor Services

MAKKAH, 27 May 2008 — Several businesswomen are unhappy with poor services that the women’s section of the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) provides and complain that they find it difficult to gain loans.

Areej Justaniyah, a distributor of imported lingerie with a shop in Makkah, said, “I wonder what use there is in becoming a member of the Fatimah Center, the women’s section of the MCCI. The organization needs to make it easier for women to get loans from agencies that work with the chambers.”

Justaniyah says she was denied a loan to open a shop because she was unable to meet difficult conditions to qualify for financial aid. “When I adhered strictly to the conditions set by the MCCI, I couldn’t even pay my workers,” she said.

“The center makes empty promises. It claims it is launching new schemes and initiatives for women. But they are never translated into reality,” she said, adding that the business training courses that the MCCI conducts for women were overpriced and that fees need to be brought down to make them affordable to everyone.

Justaniyah added that some of the courses were a waste of time and money. “For instance, a recently held course, called ‘How to Run a Business from Your Home,’ did not provide any useful information to businesswomen like me. What we need are programs that shed light on practical marketing techniques,” she said.

“We need focused meetings where participants are able to exchange ideas related to the running of enterprises. We also want to participate in the business projects that the MCCI has recently launched. There should be a system in place for our involvement and interaction with businessmen so we can benefit from their experience, particularly in marketing techniques,” she added.

Justaniyah also lamented the inability of the MCCI to give useful advice on how to begin businesses in new areas. “Businesswomen are not given the opportunity to learn what other participants are doing and how they are faring. When I requested, in a recent meeting, that participants should be allowed to speak about their businesses, the chamber official dismissed the idea saying that the chamber did not allow such things,” she said.

Suhair Kawakbi, owner of a boutique that sells Moroccan dress that she designs herself, is also of the view that the MCCI is of no use to owners of small-time business owners such as her.

She added that she wanted to open a branch in Jeddah but the chamber did not offer any help. “I hope the chamber would do more than invite people to its meetings,” she said.

Hanan Dahlawi, a children’s dress designer, said she has been in the business for the past 20 years. “The only support I got from the MCCI was an opportunity to exhibit my products at the Grand Coral Hotel five months ago,” she said, adding that she has faced a lot of difficulties in marketing her products, which she attributed to a lack of malls and large shopping complexes in Makkah.

Dahlawi believes that the MCCI should set up large women-only shopping centers and souks where women entrepreneurs could showcase their goods.

On the other hand, Huda Mehdi, deputy chair of the Fatimah Center, said several women in Makkah have set up small businesses with the MCCI’s help. “The center holds training courses for women, gives them advice on the types of business they can do and assists them in taking loans from the Saudi Credit Bank and the Centenary Fund. This, of course, follows feasibility studies. The amount of loans that we give range from SR100,000 to SR200,000,” she said.

“The chamber also plans to shortly issue licenses to women’s salons. It will also open exclusive women’s markets at the Saleh Jamal Center in Makkah where women will be able to display and sell their wares themselves,” she added.

By Chamber Ibtisam Shaqdar, Arab News