Sheikha Nadia Al Doussary: Steel and determination to reach the top

Saudi Arabia represents probably the toughest working environment for a woman in the Arab world. Yet, this hasn't hindered those women who are determined to succeed and prove that where there's the will it's not impossible to hold down a senior position in Saudi Arabian companies.

Today, investments by Saudi business women in KSA are worth some SR42bn ($11.2bn), and they own a 4.3 per cent share in Saudi companies. And perhaps a great part of this is down to the Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority (SAGIA), which looks after investment opportunities Saudi women.

According to the Women's Department of Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry women have some SR62bn ($16.5bn) of savings, so SAGIA knows there are still plenty of investment opportunities for the future.

However, a good question to ask is whether having SAGIA's help means that the hard times are over for Saudi women or it's just the beginning.

For Al Doussary, Partner and CEO of Al Sale Eastern Company, obstacles are still there despite the assistance SAGIA is offering women. But she counters: "When anything was easy to achieve? I always tell young ladies who have just started their careers that life doesn't offer success on silver plates; they've got to work hard and make their own achievements."

Al Doussary has worked in Europe and the US, and found that while the working environment was friendlier, women still faced competition. There, just as in the Middle East, women who want to succeed need energy and determination.

From KSA to New York

A "mere coincidence" is what Al Doussary calls her business journey. She married and became a mother while still a student, but this didn't curb her ambitions, she admits.

"Originally my interests included writing and painting. But business? It never crossed my mind before. I just happened to be in the right place when a British American company was looking for energetic staff to lead its sales in the kingdom. So I started with them as a manager of a small region, then was gradually promoted to the position of head of the entire Saudi group", says Al Doussary.

One year the company organised a competition in the US between its global sales teams. Under her leadership, Al Doussary's Saudi team was the most successful, and it saw the Saudi flag raised on top of Donald Trump Tower in New York as a reward.
But because it was never about money, a time came when Al Doussary decided to join the family business and try to contribute to its development.

A time for change

As opportunities increase for Saudi women to take on senior roles in business, they are putting behind any past prejudice against them and instead concentrating on succeeding instead.

GCC countries are now familiar with foundations for women and committees seeking to take women's roles even further. In the UAE, for example, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has formed the "Business Women Council", whose goal is to create an environment for women to work with men side by side without having to face any discrimination.

In turn, the Saudi Board of Chambers of Commerce and Industry launched the National Committee of Business Women. Plus there are private foundations and institutions dedicated to business women.
One of the activities such foundations undertake are awards ceremonies that honour successful business women.

In 2006, the Khadijah Bint Khowailed Centre for Business Women in Saudi Arabia placed Al Doussary at number one came in its list of the top 20 Saudi business women. Combined with the Financial Times award, which Al Doussary describes as a crowning glory in her career life, it has been a busy few years on the awards circuit.

"In the list that Khadijah Bint Khowailed Centre prepared, I was the only woman who owned a steel factory. And as you know, this is a male-dominated industry. However, the evaluation was focused around the personality, capital, and number of employees working under me. As for the Financial Times, I heard the news from a friend that lives in London, but I was extremely happy with it."

Business talk

Al Sale Eastern Company was formed in 1978. Al Doussary joined later, as a division manager, as steel manufacturing was something new for her. But she quickly became a partner and continued climbing until taking over as CEO.

Statistics show that steel consumption in Saudi Arabia reached 4.75m tons in 2006, leading to an increased production in local plants.

For Al Doussary, steel is one of the basic industries in any country and thus it never stops growing. And while some connect the growth of the Saudi steel sector mainly with real estate, she sees that it's far beyond that.

"We can't say it's all about the real estate boom, because even when this boom stops, we still have our exports and we still have the re-manufacturing process, the importance of which has become more recognised by decision makers."

With Saudi Arabia joining the World Trade Organization, the markets will be liberated and international competitors will be expected to change the scene we're now familiar with. And no doubt, some players will grow while others lose their place in that market.

But Al Doussary is prepared for the competition. For her, as long as she can think and plan, there's nothing to fear. And a "good business mind can anticipate the market happenings and prepare for it by planning new flexible strategies," she argues.

As for Saudi women's needs in business, Al Doussary says it is support and not advice. Despite this, she recommends that women "study their projects beyond the margins of profit and loss, because in the end, the pursuit of money causes failure while the pursuit of quality generates money."