Women’s presence in business rising: SCW

Manama : Director of the National Strategy for the Advancement of Bahraini Women at the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), Rana Ahmed Khalifa has said that the official data related to the Bahraini women’s presence in economy and business show an increasing and sustainable trend.

“Data reveal that the individual active women-owned Commercial Registrations (CRs) that are active for more than five years account for more than 51 per cent in 2016,” Rana Ahmed said while commenting on an article published by a local newspaper on the sustainability of Bahraini women in the commercial field. She also pointed out that the percentage of active individual women-owned commercial registrations had gone up from 37 per cent in 2010 to 43 per cent, or by 23143, of the total commercial registrations owned by Bahrainis, noting that the registrations’ operation rates cannot be measured accurately for both men and women.

She highlighted the report issued by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2015, themed “Women in Business and Management: Gaining momentum”.

According to the report, Bahrain ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa region in the Self-employed businesswomen index, with 28 per cent. It also revealed that company boards with women members had grown from 12 per cent in 2010 to 14 per cent in 2014, while the share of women in the baords across the Gulf Cooperation Council was 2 per cent or less, she said.

She added that the SCW will continue to build partnerships to complete the economic work system through providing services required for the economic empowerment programmes, be it through loans or easy financing, in addition to all the administrative, consulting, training and technical services needed by women to join the entrepreneurship field.

She highlighted the launch of the HRH Princess Sabeeka’s “Financial Portfolio” for supporting women’s trade activities in 2010 to support micro projects through granting Islamic Sharia-compliant loans, as well as the provision  for consultation and training services for women, and the launch of the “Bahraini Female Entrepreneur Honour Seal.  The SCW also reiterated its keenness on working with the relevant parties to put forward an integrated system to empower Bahraini women economically through supporting their economic activities, and encouraging them to be self-reliant through starting their own commercial projects or developing their current projects.