双语阅读｜Uber和Careem垄断沙特女性网约车市场
NASHMIAH Alenzy, a doctor in Saudi Arabia’s conservative Qassim region, uses ride-hailing apps at least two or three times a week, and sometimes every day, to get to work or to run errands. Before she started using these apps last year, every journey needed to be planned well in advance as she negotiated getting a lift with her husband, her brother, or a private driver.
沙特阿拉伯保守的卡西姆地区的医生Nashmiah Alenzy为了工作或外出办事，每周至少使用两到三次打车软件，有时候甚至每天都用。Alenzy从去年开始使用打车软件的，在那之前，每一次外出都得提前规划，与丈夫、兄弟或某个私家司机商量载她一程。
Barred from driving in a country with non-existent public transport, Saudi women are a profitable prospect for ride-hailing companies. Careem, a firm valued at $1bn that is based in Dubai and operates across the Middle East, north Africa and South Asia, set up shop in 2013. Uber followed in 2014. Both see the Saudi market as one of the most lucrative in the region. Around four-fifths of their respective customers are women.
由于法律规定女性不得驾驶并不存在的公共交通工具，因此，沙特女性成为了网约车企业的有利可图市场。Careem是迪拜一家市值达10亿美元的网约车企业，运营范围覆盖中东、北非和南亚地区，成立于2013年。随后Uber于2014年成立。这两家企业都将沙特市场看作是中东地区最有利可图的市场之一，各自的消费者中大约有五分之四是女性。
Both firms are directly backed by the Saudi state. In response to falling oil revenues, the government’s “Vision 2030” programme seeks to diversify its sources of income. In June last year its sovereign-wealth fund ploughed $3.5bn into Uber; and in December Saudi Telecom, which is controlled by the same fund, took a 10% stake in Careem.
他们都直接得到沙特政府官方的支持。为了应对石油收入下滑的局面，沙特政府提出"未来2030”计划，以实现收入来源多样化。2016年6月，沙特主权财富基金向Uber投资35亿美元，同年12月，基金旗下的沙特电信持有Careem10%股份。
If the motives for these investments are chiefly financial, the two firms also fit the government’s social goals. Both help (male) participation in the gig economy, in line with an aim to push more Saudis into the private sector, which is currently dominated by expatriates. Unemployment is high, particularly for the young. Around two-thirds of those in work are employed in the cushy public sector. Last year the Ministry of Transport decided that only Saudi drivers could be licensed to use their own cars for ride-hailing. Foreigners must be employed directly by taxi firms.
如果说这些投资的动机主要是财务方面的，那么，两家企业其实同样迎合政府的社会目标。它们都有助于提高零工经济中（男性）的参与度，这与政府希望更多沙特人进入私营部门工作的理念不谋而合，因为现在沙特的私营部门主要由外国人主导。此外，沙特失业率居高不下，尤其是年轻人。即使是有工作的人，其中大约三分之二都供职于安逸的公共部门。2016年，沙特交通部规定，只有沙特司机可以使用自己的车做打车生意，外国人必须直接受雇于出租车公司。
Ride-hailing services also help with the government’s stated aim of boosting women’s labour-market activity. Only 1.9m out of 13.1m Saudi women participate in the workforce. One barrier to work is a lack of mobility; ride-hailing apps mean that more women—at least, those with credit cards and smartphones—can take up work or run their own businesses. Uber, under fire in its home market for its macho culture, has a better story to tell in the Gulf.
打车服务也能提高女性在劳动力市场的参与度，这同样是政府上述目标之一。沙特有1310万女性人口，其中只有190万参加工作。阻碍女性工作的一个原因是流动能力差。打车软件的出现意味着有更多女性，最起码那些拥有信用卡和智能手机的的女性能开始工作或者经营自己企业。Uber因为企业男性文化在美国市场不断批评，却在海湾地区有了前景更加光明的市场。
Saudi Arabia’s embrace of ride-hailing also exposes a contradiction. Because of pressure from Wahhabi clerics, women are not allowed to drive or to mix with men outside their family. Yet the state is actively encouraging them to spend time alone with total strangers, something that makes conservatives uncomfortable.
不过，沙特提倡打车服务也暴露出一大矛盾。由于受到来自伊斯兰教瓦哈比教派的压力，女性既不允许驾车，也不允许同家族外的男性近距离接触。可是，沙特政府积极鼓励女性打车，就相当于允许女性与陌生司机独处，这让保守人士十分不舒服。
Some women are annoyed for different reasons. The state ensures that women are dependent on men to get around, says Hatoon al Fassi, an academic, and is now profiting from that dependence. Despite her qualms, Dr al Fassi often has little choice but to use the Uber app herself. So long as women cannot take the wheel themselves, ride-hailing companies will be firmly in the driver’s seat.
女性为此苦恼的原因多种多样。学者哈图恩‧法斯（Hatoon al Fassi）指出，在沙特，女性必须同男性一道外出，而现在政府正从这种规定中获利。尽管心有不安，不过法斯通常别无选择，只能使用Uber软件。只要沙特女性一天不能亲自驾车，打车企业就会一直牢牢地掌控这个市场。
编译：张玺元
审校：张思莹
编辑：翻吧君
来源：经济学人
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