From trade to the Saudi Aramco IPO, there was more on the agenda during the British PM’s visit than some sections of the UK media made out.

OF the many subjects of interest discussed between Theresa May, the British prime minister, and leaders of Saudi Arabia during her visit to the Kingdom, you can guarantee that her choice of headwear (none) was not on the list. The more infantile sections of the British media — which on the subject of UK-Saudi relations often accounts for a significant chunk of it — focused on her hair, congratulating her for “taking a stand.” On what, they did not really specify, though their coverage was laced with strained references to women’s causes and gender equality.

In fact, May’s visit itself was a symbol of the advancement of women in the Kingdom and the Arabian Gulf. Before her departure from London, and well before she was pictured hatless, she was talking about her hope to be a “role model” for Saudi women.

That was commendable but only serves to reinforce the fact that Saudi women are already playing a much greater role in business and society. Just a few weeks ago, women were appointed to senior positions in three big financial institutions, including the top job at the Tadawul stock exchange.

Even May, from such a supposedly liberated society as the UK, could not point to such examples of women in top positions within London’s crusty old male-dominated world of finance. On this topic, she is talking to the already converted. as financial services.

Likewise, while oil is the biggest single export item from the Kingdom, there is a wealth of investment from Saudi Arabia into the UK’s real estate, commercial and residential, as well as other financial investment.