Al Tayer says a committee grouping senior businesswomen will be set up to devise employment strategies.
UAE officials opened a conference on female jobs in banks yesterday with a call for native women to join that sector as part of an overall government drive to reduce dependence on foreigners and prevent an unemployment problem.

Their figures showed the number of women in the country's 46 banks has sharply increased over the past 15 years but they were alarmed that many of them were quitting their jobs while others are unable to get bank jobs because of social restrictions.

Addressing the conference on "Women in the banking sector… horizons and prospects," Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Nahyan, Wife of President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Chairperson of the UAE General Women's Union, said UAE women now account for nearly 60 per cent of the native workforce in the banking sector.

"They have sharply increased over the years but this ratio still does not satisfy our ambitions," said Sheikha Fatima. "We hope measures are taken and discussions will continue to chalk out strategies that will ensure stronger participation by UAE women in this vital sector as is the case in other development sectors," she said in a speech distributed at the one-day conference.

Another speaker said the conference would be held every two years to identify obstacles facing women in their drive to get jobs and propose solutions.

Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of Communications, said a committee would be set up grouping senior businesswomen to devise employment strategies.

Al Tayer, Chairman of a government-banking committee entrusted with increasing national manpower in the banking sector, said a campaign to encourage UAE citizens to join the banking sector had made headway but stressed banks should support that campaign by offering training and incentives to new national employees.

"Although the number of national labour in the banking sector has largely grown, we should step up efforts to chalk out plans and policies to attract more, especially women. The legal and administrative environment is suitable," he said.

But other speakers said the social environment is not fully suitable for women's work in the banking sector while many banks still prefer men over women.

In his paper to the seminar, Humaid Al Qutami, Director of the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS), said UAE women are now capable of taking up jobs in any sector as they have access to higher education and training.