Soleiman was the only female candidate to be voted to the Board of Directors at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) in this week's elections, and one of only five from all previous incumbents to retain their seats. With 557 votes, she was the second highest-ranking candidate out of the industrialists. Portrayed as something of a reformist, Al-Sulaiman says she has a clear idea of where the process would begin for her, but is keen to highlight a contemporary history of Saudi Arabia “in which a great deal has been achieved in a relatively short time”. “Throughout this time, it has been the state that has generated most of the development in education, health care, national security, employment and education,” Al-Soleiman told Saudi Gazette ahead of the elections. “Economic prosperity, while undoubtedly the result of the country being blessed with natural resources, could not have been achieved without significant investment in Saudi Arabia's human and economic resources. The infrastructure that the government needed to introduce was not limited to roads, buildings and other tangible facilities, but also involved the economic and financial infrastructure, and the policies and regulations required for continued growth.” “We all share certain definitions of reform, and we refer to those processes that must be re-engineered to meet higher standards of quality,” Al-Soleiman said. “Management in general needs to be looked at, and aspects of management previously neglected must be revaluated. Decision-making, which is all too often personalized and ad hoc, must be based on clear criteria and systematic planning, with attention to changing circumstances and times to take on board new solutions and work methods,” she said. “One thing crucial to our success today is our collective conviction on the need for dialogue and partnership to promote development and positive change in our country,” she said. “In this regard, we have much to be proud of, but I further believe that we should be proud that our country realizes that in order to build on achievements, reform is necessary,” she said. Hope, cynicism, corruption and bureaucracy Al-Soleiman believes that more could be learnt from the outside world, and while wary of seeking one-size-fits-all solutions to home problems, the wealth of experience found in the world at large could help formulate responses. “In such a disheartening global climate, where there is growing worldwide loss of confidence in governments to deliver and in the private sector to initiate change, we stand at a turning point towards a more optimistic and hopeful period,” Al-Soleiman says. “For this to happen, however, we cannot underestimate the degree of cynicism that exists in society, and must speak directly about issues such as corruption which so many feel is the only way of getting things done, yet remains one of the most socially, economically and politically destructive obstacles to progress. Corruption hinders all our progress, but both the public and private sectors should recognize their culpability and responsibility in combating corruption at its roots,” she said. Al-Soleiman continues by citing bureaucracy, centralization and obsolete management styles as further hampering progress, and which can only be addressed by introducing professionals into the public and private domains with the responsibility to make tangible achievements. “Without this, one cannot expect too much change,” she said. “Greater flexibility and a more service-oriented approach are within our grasp, however, so we need to hand greater responsibility to those who can actually reach them.” Measurable results Results, Al-Soleiman says, need to be measurable and goals identifiable. A system of targets also requires monitoring and evaluation systems, and governance that ensure that “all the right voices are heard when things do not go as well as they should”. “As in any initiative of this nature, we need to realize that things can go wrong,” she said. “The public sector has a crucial role to play in protecting the rights of citizens in employment rights, gender issues, and health and safety, to name but a few. While the private sector can undoubtedly support the government by evaluating its performance, so too must the government ensure that the private sector abides by regulations created as social safeguards.” Blame game Al-Soleiman laments a tendency to confront problems by simply trying to blame someone else. Instead, she believes, difficulties should be seen as opportunities for creative and dynamic problem-solving. “All too often we see finger-pointing, which is neither constructive nor effective in achieving genuine lasting reform,” she said. The public-private cooperation debate, according to Al-Soleiman, frequently ignores civil society which is “still evolving in Saudi Arabia”. “This doesn't mean it doesn't exist here, in fact it entails much of the social fabric that our society is made of, including as it does social networks, communities, charities, religious societies, mosques and various formal and informal institutions,” she said. “Civil society means families and individuals, ‘citizens' without whose voice there can be no true governance.” Key ingredients for reform The key is “participatory decision-making” and “consensus-building” and “awareness-raising”, the factors Al-Soleiman describes as “key ingredients for lasting social development and transformation in its most positive sense”. “As a Saudi and a woman who has been given the opportunity to be involved in her country's development, I believe that it is essential that we continue to expand the circle of involvement in our nation's progress,” she said. “When we talk of creating jobs or economic progress we are speaking about issues that directly affect the lives of communities, families and individuals.” A failure to involve those groups and individuals would for Al-Soleiman result in “compromising sustainability and efficiency”, and ambitious plans would remain on paper. “From a gender perspective in particular, we have found that getting plans on paper is one thing, but actually achieving tangible change is something else altogether. Plans that do not take into consideration the views and attitudes of the whole of society are more likely to fail,” she said. With Al-Soleiman the only one of seven female candidates to be voted in, she now has the opportunity to keep turning ink into action as a re-elected member of the Board of Directors at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce.
