Narrowing the gender gap is a key priority for Saudi Aramco, and the company has doubled the number of women working in the organisation over the past 10 years, said its president and CEO Amin H Nasser.

 

Nasser was speaking at the Gulf Region Organization for Women (GROW) Forum, hosted by Saudi Aramco,  under the banner of “Shaping the Future of Female Opportunities”, at the Plaza Conference Center in Dhahran today. 

 

GROW is a strategic platform seeking to promote policies supporting professional development for women in the Gulf. 

 

Celebrating the second year since its inception, the event marked the organisation’s 10th meeting in partnership with 27 different and related entities. It promoted dialogue on important policy shifts underway in the kingdom which are underlying moves towards improving female professional development. 

 

Nasser opened the forum with his keynote address reaffirming Saudi Aramco’s unwavering support of female professional development and celebrating the company’s robust policies in this area. 

 

In addition, Dr Tamader Al-Rammah, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Development, participated in the “Ministry’s Call to Action” session which preceded a speech given by Saudi Aramco Human Resources Executive director Nabil Al-Dabal entitled “Cultivating the Seeds of Collaboration”.

 

Underscoring the kingdom’s already successful efforts to improve gender diversity and Saudi Aramco’s considerable work in this field, Nasser said: “We have been investing in a wide range of programmes for many years to enable women to compete, overcome challenges, and achieve their career aspirations.  

 

"At Saudi Aramco, we have increased female recruitment to more than 20% of all new hires and doubled the number of women working in our organisation over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, in April, we appointed our first female board member,” he said.

 

While highlighting the industries and sectors where females can play a leading role, Nasser noted that Saudi Aramco is hiring more qualified females and developing talent to take on diverse roles and responsibilities across its business segments, adding that Saudi Aramco has entered into partnerships across the kingdom with national training institutes which will improve the quality of professional and vocational training in the kingdom, such as the first all-female Business Process Services Center in Riyadh, led by GROW.

 

Reflecting on the company’s commitment to women’s career advancement, Dabal said: “Saudi Aramco’s Women Diversity & Development Department is poised to play a prominent role in supporting female professional development in the Kingdom and the region.  With this in mind, the focus at this year’s forum is on creating practical, actionable strategies and forming partnerships across the Kingdom and in the region which serve to drive the development and empowerment of women in the Gulf.”  - TradeArabia News Service