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Mon 03 Mar 2009Billionaire prince who is mapping out progressive modernity for his land
Pro-women’s rights and friendly towards the West, Prince Alwaleed is an agent of change, writes MARY FITZGERALDin Saudi Arabia
THE OFFICES of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal are quite unlike the average Saudi workplace. One of the first things that strikes a visitor to his offices on the 66th floor of his iconic Kingdom Centre, a Riyadh landmark that soars high above the Saudi capital, is that female employees – women make up at least half of Alwaleed’s workforce – work alongside men, and without the all-enveloping black abaya that is obligatory for women to wear in public in Saudi Arabia. But then their boss is a man who relishes his role as one of the country’s boldest advocates for change.
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