Saudi Arabia plans to generate 12,000 job opportunities for female security guards over the next five years, it has been reported. The scheme, which will be implemented by Jeddah’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), is part of the gulf state\'s government\'s drive to get more Saudi nationals working in jobs. The chamber will meet with the Minister of Labour, Adel Fakieh, at the end of April to discuss ways to encourage both male and female Saudi citizens to work as security guards, said Abdul Hadi Al-Qahtani, chairman of the security guard committee at the JCCI. “We’re determined to remove all obstacles security guards face in the private sector and we will ensure that proper regulations are in place to serve this purpose,” he added. Saudi Arabia, the most populous nation in the GCC, is one of the few countries in the world where strict gender segregation is still largely enforced. While Saudi women are permitted to work in some cases, social convention prevents them from driving cars and forbids them from associating with unrelated males and taking part in a large array of other social activities.