Business | General
Women on the march in Gulf business
Arab countries have achieved a milestone in allowing women's participation in economic development, as the number of businesswomen in the region is growing rapidly, officials said on Monday.
- By Cleofe Maceda, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:21 December 10, 2007
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Dubai: Arab countries have achieved a milestone in allowing women's participation in economic development, as the number of businesswomen in the region is growing rapidly, officials said on Monday.
Citing a World Bank report, Dubai International Financial Centre governor Omar Bin Sulaiman said women were principal owners of over 4,000 firms surveyed in seven Arab countries.
Unlike other regions, Sulaiman said, most of these businesses were large scale and the majority were managed by their female owners.
In terms of investments, the UAE alone has more than 11,000 businesswomen managing investments worth more than $4 billion.
"Women entrepreneurs in the Arab world are growing rapidly and dedicated investment funds such as Forsa (an exclusive investment fund for women investors and entrepreneurs) as well as conventional and Islamic banks are beginning to see them as a target group making finance available and boosting their numbers even further," Sulaiman said at the opening of the Arab International Women's Forum (AIWF) at the DIFC yesterday.
UAE Minister of Economy Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi also said women were becoming proactive investors, as they now manage investments worth more than Dh140 billion in the Gulf region. "With better investment knowledge and more financial education, women have become very pro-active in seeking investment opportunities and are experimenting with various opportunities to invest their money," Shaikha Lubna said.
Delegates from different countries converged at the DIFC yesterday for the conference, the first for AIWF in Dubai.
The forum is the culmination of the AIWF's 2007 programme, which explores financing of female entrepreneurship in the Arab world, best practices in corporate governance and the economic environment for the next generation of women entrepreneurs.
Rapid progress
In the Gulf, Shaikha Lubna said, 25 per cent of the work force were women, with 4.5 per cent of them owning freehold businesses. About 59 per cent of women in Bahrain, 55 per cent of women in Tunisia, 48 per cent of women in Jordan and the UAE, and 41 per cent of women in Leb-anon were also sole owners of their firms.
In the UAE's small-to-medium enterprise sector, Shaikha Lubna said, women comprised 50 per cent of the businesses.
On the labour front, Shaikha Lubna said the Middle Eastern female labour force grew by 5.2 per cent from 2000 to 2005, compared with 4.7 per cent during the 1990s.
Women's workplace participation in the UAE also soared from 9.6 per cent in 1986 to over 33.4 per cent now. Women also held 30 per cent of all management positions and outnumbered the men in the UAE government sector.
"What these figures indicate is that the Arab World, as a whole, is currently witnessing one of the world's fastest growth rates in terms of developing human capital," Lubna said.
"Gone are the days when women's role is limited to the home. With world-class education facilities right at our doorsteps, as well as increased political representation, there is now a greater understanding and acceptance of the needs and rights of women in the Arab World," Shaikha Lubna added.
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