RIYADH, Nov 26: Seventeen Saudi businesswomen are among candidates in an election that began on Saturday for a local trade and industry chamber, the first vote of its kind in the country to include women.

A total of 71 candidates are bidding for 12 seats in the Nov 26-29 election of board members for the Trade and Industry Chamber of Jeddah.

“We all are very excited and optimistic. I could not sleep in recent days,” candidate Lama Sulaiman said.

“As new faces in the polls we had to work very hard ... The feedback we have had so far was encouraging.”

Ulfat Qabbani, who runs a firm manufacturing perfume for export, was optimistic about the outcome of the polls, for which most of the voters will be men. Women account for only about 10 percent of the chamber’s members.

“We should win at least two seats in these polls,” she said.

Some businesswomen also hope to clinch at least one of six seats on the Jeddah chamber’s 18-member board which are appointed by the trade and industry ministry.

King Abdullah has made the promotion of women in society a priority of Saudi Arabia’s 2005-2009 development plan, but authorities have emphasized it will have to be in line with the principles of Islam.

“These polls should boost Saudi women’s role in society in conformity with Islamic principles and break their isolation, starting with the job market,” candidate Qabbani said.

Allowing women to run for the Jeddah chamber ‘has created a positive stir in Saudi society and heralds a renaissance for Saudi women’, she added.

Saudi Arabia held its first nationwide elections, for municipal councils, earlier this year. Women were barred from voting or standing for office but officials have said they will be allowed to stand in the next vote in four years’ time.

Women in Saudi Arabia cannot drive, must be covered up and accompanied by a male relative in public.

Riyadh-based architect Nadia Bakhourjy, whose bid to stand in the municipal elections was rejected, learned on Saturday she had been accepted as the first female candidate for a seat on the Saudi Engineers’ Council, which is due to hold an election in late January.

“Ten or 15 years ago the council would not have let me run,” Bakhourjy said. “We have seen recently a lot of positive moves from official circles in favour of women. What they are doing is great.” —Reuters