The Saudi Arabian government has allowed women to work in restaurants, even though their contributions will remain limited to kitchens, for empowering women economically, a senior labour official said.
Saudi authorities have passed the decision in a bid to reform the labour market and empower women economically by offering them employment opportunities in the private sector, dominated by foreigners mainly from Asian countries, the Gulf News reports.
Fahd Al Takhifi, the assistant undersecretary for development, said that women could now be hired to work in special sections, independent from areas where men work, like independent kitchens or in kitchens linked to restaurants or to fast-food restaurants or to sweet-making shops,
King Abdulllah Bin Abdul Aziz has been pushing for social and labour reforms in the socially conservative kingdom.
Several conservative forces have, meanwhile, resisted the labour ministry's decision to employ women in public places, arguing that women should be confined to their homes or that they should work only as teachers in all girls' schools.