The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) plans to launch a number of initiatives it is hoped will create 30,000 jobs for women in the textile industry. The plans are being developed by the Textiles Committee of the JCCI, in embroidery, sewing and fashion design. The announcement was made during a meeting at the JCCI recently to announce the final results for the competition “My talent”. The competition, with prize money of SR150,000, was launched to help develop the skills of women in the clothing and textile sector. Abdullah Al-Iraqi, the president of the textile committee, said the committee plans to create 30,000 jobs in the industry over five years. This is to ensure employment for Saudi women. Meanwhile, the textiles committee decided to announce the final results of the competition next week. A total of 20 selected finalists out of more than 100 entrants were present at the meeting. The judges of the competition include Al-Iraqi and the well-known Saudi fashion designers Seraj Sanid and Hanan Madni. The other judges are Youseef Kharaz, the executive director of the Business Development Committee in Jeddah and Mohammed Al-Shahri, the general supervisor of the competition. Kharaz said that the final results will be announced next week, where the judges will select the 10 winners out of 20 finalists. The winners will be awarded with a computer laptop and a free training course at the Nesma embroidery center. The first place winner will get a computerized embroidery machine worth SR30,000 and those in second and third place will get similar machines worth SR25,000. It was decided to have the competition on an annual basis so that the best talent could enter the labor market, said Al-Iraqi. Saudi Arabia invests almost SR2 billion annually into the clothing and textile industry.
