Dubai: The Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG) has appointed Joumana Al Rashid as the new chief executive officer (CEO), the company announced in a statement. Al Rashid is the first Saudi Arabian woman to hold the position.
The new CEO was previously a media adviser and communications director. Al Rashid received her master’s degree in international journalism from City University in London in 2013.
Al Rashid will now lead SRMG, one of the region’s top media entities, directing the kingdom in another step toward achieving Vision 2030.
Saudi Vision 2030, a reform plan spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aims to diversify the country’s economy and includes increasing women’s labour force participation.
Reform plan
The kingdom aims to provide jobs for around one million Saudi Arabian women as part of the reform plan, Mishaal Al Balawi, an official at the Permanent Mission of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations in Geneva, announced in July.
“The Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020 have put women empowerment among their most important priorities,” Al Balawi said.
Al Rashid joins other Saudi Arabian women appointed to other top positions in various fields.
In July, Dr. Lilac al-Safadi was appointed as the first female president of a coeducational university in Saudi Arabia. In the same month, Saudi Arabia also announced the appointment of 13 women to the country’s Human Rights Council (HRC), with women now accounting for half of the board members.
In August, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques appointed 10 women to senior leadership positions within its ranks.
Earlier this year the World Bank released a report that found Saudi Arabia’s economy made the biggest progress globally toward gender equality since 2017.
