Female appointments to key positions show KSA commitment to modernization, says UAE’s Lubna Qassim
DUBAI: One of the leading advocates of female empowerment in the Middle East has told Arab News that recent appointments of women to top positions in Saudi Arabia’s financial system are a sign that the Kingdom’s ambitious transformation plans will succeed.
Lubna Qassim, who is chief legal counsel for Dubai-based Emirates NBD, the largest bank in the UAE, said that appointments earlier this year of Rania Mahmoud Nashar as chief executive officer of Samba Bank, and of Sarah Al-Suhaimi as chairman of the board of Tadawul, showed that the Kingdom has the power to see through positive change in regard to womens’ role in the economy.
“We’re all very excited about KSA’s new Vision 2030. It shows bold and pragmatic leadership, and an openness to embrace the new wave of change in the region. I know some people have questioned as to whether they can actually achieve it, but I see no reason why they should not. do the Saudis have the talent and resources to achieve it? Of course they do,” she said.
Qassim, who has made a name for herself as a proponent of good governance within the Gulf legal and business system, said that the changes going on in the Kingdom were being watched by the whole region.
“The Saudi women I know are very talented and sophisticated. Many have been educated in the west and sometimes do not want to go home after that. Dubai benefits from that. Dubai is a bridge between Saudi and the west for many of them.”