The Mercato exhibition of the products of Saudi businesswomen was opened by Mohammad Al-Amri, Executive Director of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, and Hani Abu Ras, General Secretary of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), in the presence of a number of businessmen and businesswomen at Le Mall here at the weekend. The exhibition is divided into eight galleries featuring clothes, beauty products and gifts imported from abroad or designed and crafted by local women. Mercato, which means “market” in Italian, is the first exhibition of its kind in the Kingdom that makes it easy for Saudi women starting out in business to display their products to the public, according to Haifaa Naji and Nada Al-Atrash, the businesswomen who manage the exhibition and rent galleries to women on easy terms. “Our aim is to support and encourage businesswomen, especially those who are just starting out,” said Naji, adding that the experience has proved to be a great success and will be applied in other malls. “The exhibition is all set up for them, and all they have to do is pay a small sum for three months rent without the need for any other formalities,” she said. Al-Amri stressed the importance of this project for domestic tourism and for society because it helps to spread the culture of supporting Saudi women who want to get started in business. The women displaying their products at the Mercato exhibition feel that the project have given them the chance to become more independent. Samah Falodah could not find a job after graduation from the university, but her belief in her talent and ability led her to start a business creating and selling gift packaging, wedding decorations and baby gifts. “Abdul Lateef Jameel supported me financially for a year because they were admired my designs. When my business grew, I advertised job opportunities via the Internet for Saudi girls talented in design to help me cover the orders I was receiving from both inside and outside the Kingdom on my website,” she said. “I went to Haifaa Naji when I read the advertisement about the exhibition and she welcomed me after she saw my products.” Lubna Shaaban, a clothes designer, thanked Haifaa Naji and Nada Al-Atrash for their initiative in setting up the Mercato exhibition. “My problems have been solved. In the past I had no place to display my products except in bazaars or in my house. Now the public can see my goods in a well-organized exhibition,” she said.
