Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of International Cooperation and Development (MICAD) and President of Zayed University, on Monday said that some 21,000 women in the UAE run investments worth Dh40 billion. She added that businesses run by women account for 10 percent of the UAE's private sector.
Women also account for 15 percent of the members of the boards of directors of chambers of commerce and industry in the UAE, said Sheikha Lubna in her speech before the 63rd World Congress of the World Association of Women entrepreneurs, FCEM.
Minister Al Qasimi also noted that the Cabinet, in a decision in 2012, made it compulsory for all companies to appoint women to their boards.
She highlighted Emirati women's achievements and noted that the UAE, Bahrain and all other GCC member states have put ambitious social and economic development strategies in place to boost diversification, national labour force, education and foreign trade.
Minister Al Qasimi also noted that the leaders of the GCC leaders supported plans to boost the assets of their countries, advance the status of women, empower them in education and protect their rights. The achievements of Arab women including those in the Gulf region, will contribute to economic development, she added.
The three-day FCEM was organised by Bahrain Business and Professional Women International Federation (BPW) under the auspices of Princess Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of H.M. King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, and President of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW).
Source: WAM