Women participation in workforce and Saudi economy, and having women in leader position in one of the key objective of Kingdom’s Vision 2030 reform strategy. Saudi Industrial Development Fund, SIDF has made promoting women to senior positions and achieving gender parity a top priority.
Among Saudi government entities, SIDF has boosted proportion of Women staff from zero to seventeen percent in less than two years.
SIDF was established in 1974 to provide mid and long term loans to the private industrial sector. Today it has capital worth SR105 billion ($28 billion). It is in the position to bring change across economy.
SIDF’s Nokhab training scheme is one of its flagship program, which is been continuing for over 40 years. It provides entry-level employees with advanced qualifications in business, human resources and engineering.
Noor Shabib
Noor Shabib, vice president of strategic planning and business development said that when institutions accept more women on their staff, they become more meritocratic. They get benefitted from pool of talents and experience.
She said that having women in the leader team at the SIDF has positively impacted the aspirations of junior women working with us and set a good picture of what their career progression could be like.
Shabib became Saudi Arabia’s first female field engineer with Schlumberger Drilling and Measurement in 2003 after completing her bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. Shabib is a model example of women’s professional empowerment.
“By hiring more women in the SIDF and investing in their development, whether it’s through our credit program or the programs that we have in partnership with Stanford, LBS, or Fitch Learning, we will be contributing to creating a good base for female industrialists who will contribute to the advancement of the country in the years to come,” Shabib said.
“It will also add to the level of awareness of what it takes to become an ambitious female industrial entrepreneur, which is our vision.”
