RIYADH — The Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON) has revealed that the number of Saudi women working in the industrial cities, which are under its supervision, has increased by around 120 percent to 17,000 by the end of the first quarter of 2020. Eng. Khalid Al-Salem, director general of MODON, said that the authority continues to empower women in the industrial sector, whether as workers or investors through the creation of an exemplary environment and that is in partnership with the public and private sectors. He said that MODON has made the industrial sector more attractive to women through products and services as well as through innovative financing solutions. According to Al-Salem, 11,750 female employees are working in 12 industrial cities in the Kingdom’s central sector, while there are 3,500 workingwomen in the western sector, which includes 13 industrial cities, and there are 1,750 women employees in 10 industrial cities in the eastern sector. He emphasized that the authority has come a long way and is still working towards empowering women in the industrial sector. “The strategy to empower the industry and contribute to increasing local content aims to activate the role of women in industrial development in accordance with the Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to enhance their role in the national economy,” he said. The MODON chief said that the year 2021 will witness the launch of the product of small ready-made factories, each with areas of 200 square meters, so as to enable women’s investments as the first of its kind experience in the Kingdom in the first industrial city of Dammam.