Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
About 10 years ago, on a flight from Bahrain to Heathrow my husband was engaged in conversation with a senior employee from one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest car companies, who was excitedly explaining how radically the car industry will change once the ban is lifted on allowing females to drive within Saudi Arabia.
My husband sat listening courteously whilst munching on his in-flight peanuts, without any firm belief this would ever occur, in fact at the time he appeared quite unthinkable.
Forward 10 years on and the decision by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, made history yesterday, lifting the driving ban for women, making it the last country in the world to allow women to get behind the wheel.
All over the news and on social media were pictures of women rejoicing at their new found freedom, no longer relying on drivers or male relatives for transportation.
Some women will have to wait to get behind a wheel, there are huge waiting lists for driving lessons and these courses can cost hundreds of dollars but, for this new freedom, will definitely strengthen the role of women in Saudi society, increasing the number of women seeking jobs which will boost overall incomes.
Introducing additional drivers and cars in households will also increase spending activity having a profound effect on the country’s economy, according to Bloomberg Economics, as much as $90 billion by 2030.
Equally important, it demonstrates that even the once unthinkable taboos are now being challenged head on. I for one, am extremely happy for women in Saudi Arabia … it surely was a historical day.
