Dubai: Saudi Arabia on Monday began issuing its first driving licences to women in decades, state media reported.
“The first group of women today received their Saudi driving licences,” the official Saudi Press Agency said.
Salwa Abdulla, one of the first Saudi women to get their driving licence, tweeted: “I was honoured today to obtain a driver’s licence in Riyadh after passing the practical test; this is a historic day for Saudi women.”
On her Twitter account, she also thanked King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz and other officials who supported the move to grant women the right to drive.
The Centre for Government Communication shared a video of women who had obtained their driving licences. They expressed their immense happiness.
One of the drivers said her first trip will be to drop her children to school. Another said she will take her parents for a ride around the neighbourhood.
After the first driving licences were issued, congratulations poured in as other Twitter users expressed their happiness for the new drivers.
The move comes as Saudi Arabia prepares to lift its decades-long ban on female drivers on June 24.
Saudi Press Agency said authorities started swapping international licences for Saudi ones in multiple locations across the kingdom, with applicants made to undergo a “practical test”.
The move is part of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s far-reaching liberalisation drive as he seeks to modernise the kingdom.
