Bill Gates: Saudi Arabia won’t grow unless women given more of a role
DAVOS, Switzerland — Bill Gates cited Saudi Arabia as an example Saturday of why he believes limiting the rights women can hinder economic growth.
During a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Gates described speaking to a segregated audience at a recent business seminar in Saudi Arabia.
On one side of an auditorium sat men. On the other side of a large partition was a “sea of black,” Gates said — women in full-length abayas that cover their faces, as required in Saudi Arabia.
A questioner asked if he thought Saudi Arabia could meet its ambitious goal of becoming one of the world’s most competitive economies by 2010, Gates said.
“I said, ‘Well, if you’re not fully utilizing half the talent in the country, you’re not going to get too close to the top,”‘ Gates said.
How did the audience react? “One side loved it,” Gates quipped.
Various news outlets in the US are running this Associated Press story (here from Boston TV station WHDH). The piece has a few factual inaccuracies—women are not required to wear a veil in Saudi Arabia, only cover their bodies and heads—but Gates’ point is valid. It’s hard to be economically successful when half of your working-age population is mostly unable to work.
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January:29:2007 - 07:27
Oh yes they do have to veil! Saudi women do cover their faces, it is only the westerners and non saudi arabs who can get away with just the abaya and headscarf alone.
January:29:2007 - 07:46
Unless things have changed in the last year, I have to disagree.
On my last trip there, I saw women–Saudi, other Arab, and Western–not wearing veils in both Riyadh and Jeddah.