Fashion industry plans to create 2,500 jobs for Saudi women

The Fashion Designing Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) said it plans to create jobs for Saudi women in the fashion industry.
Omaima Azzouz, head of the committee, said meetings have been held with officials to establish plans that will qualify and employ more than 2,500 Saudi women over five years. She said that the initiative centers around the designer clothes sector, where investments exceed SR15 billion ($4 billion).
The committee is taking practical steps to create garment-production facilities. The initiative will establish job opportunities for Saudi women as part of the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020 and Vision 2030.
Azzouz explained that the committee launched the initiative through meetings with the Saudi Ministry of Labor and Social Development in the Makkah region, in order to find small-business entrepreneurs who will build these factories.
Most women in the fashion and designer clothes sector are entrepreneurs who work individually. “Because they cannot penetrate the industry and set up a production line, we are working to create a conglomerate for each group... with the help of three to five business owners to establish a small factory to produce one... specialized fashion line,” she explained.
She stressed that the project will provide 2,500 technical, administrative and marketing jobs for Saudi women.
A feasibility study has been conducted, and there will be workshops in the future to discuss licensing and challenges that the project will face.