King Salman allows women to drive

King Salman issued on Tuesday a historic decree allowing women in Saudi Arabia to drive for the first time, state-owned Saudi Press Agency has said.

In the decree, the King said that driving licenses are to be granted to women who want them.

Government agencies have been ordered to prepare reports for the process within 30 days, and the decree will be implemented by June 2018. A committee will also be formed to look into how to implement the order.

"This is a significant development not only on social liberalization but also in terms of economic reform," Dubai-based Emirates NBD said in a note on Wednesday.

"Increasing female participation in the labor force is one of the aims of the Vision 2030 program, but this was always going to be difficult given the social norms in the Kingdom.  The decision to allow women to drive indicates that the authorities remain committed to implementing their ambitious reform agenda, despite an apparent slowing of economic reform momentum in recent months," the lender added. 

In November 2016, billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal called for the Kingdom to allow women to drive, adding that the decision could save Saudi families SAR 3,800 a month, which are paid to expat drivers. 

“According to Saudi vision 2030, the government has implemented several measures to support the state budget, such as cutting extra allowances that used to help state employees afford extra services— such as hiring a driver. This calls for new alternatives, including allowing women to drive their own cars,” Alwaleed wrote.

He added that around one million drivers in the Kingdom, who are expat workers, send about SAR 30 billion in remittances every year to their home countries.

Write to Reem Abdellatif at reem.a@argaam.com