Saudi woman on board of listed company

Saudi businesswoman Lubna Olayan, who angered religious conservatives when she appeared alongside men at an economic forum this year, has become the first female board member of a Saudi listed firm, bankers said yesterday.

Saudi Hollandi Bank said Olayan was elected to a three-year term on the bank's board by shareholders at a meeting late on Tuesday. "She is the first woman on the board of a Saudi joint stock company," a bank spokesman said.

Olayan delivered a passionate plea for equality for Saudi women when she opened a high-profile economic forum in Jeddah attended by former US President Bill Clinton in January.

"My vision is of a country ... in which any Saudi citizen, irrespective of gender, who is serious about finding employment, can find a job in the field for which he or she is best qualified," Olayan told the conference.

Her speech was well received by delegates, but the country's highest religious authority, Grand Mufti Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Al Shaikh, denounced it and condemned the "shameful" mixing of men and women at the conference. This week Saudi women voted directly for the first time without having to go through guardians in elections for the board of Riyadh's Chamber of Commerce and Industry. They were not able to stand as candidates.

Women have also been barred from voting or standing in Saudi Arabia's municipal elections early next year.