Mohammed opens Arab Women Forum

The Dubai Women Establishment (DWE) on Tuesday kicked off the Fourth Arab Women Leadership Forum on the theme ‘Towards Global Competitiveness’. The forum was launched in the presence of and under the royal patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Also present were Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince, and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Deputy Ruler.

The forum is headed by Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of DWE, wife of Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs.

As part of his visit, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also toured the pavilions of the 'Art of Competitiveness' exhibition organised by The Cultural Office of Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

In his keynote speech, Dr. Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, said: "It is my honour to participate in the fourth edition of the Arab Women Leadership Forum and to contribute to this event which is being held under the theme 'Towards Global Competitiveness'.

"Here in the UAE, we have already witnessed the various indicators of competitiveness driving the economic growth of the country in a very short period. I would like to congratulate the organizers of this forum for choosing such a powerful theme, which is of immense value in the current era, when many countries are keen on enhancing their competitiveness levels for continuous growth and progress.

"Competitiveness is undoubtedly the key driver of innovation, creativity and sustainable development. It is a big achievement for the UAE to be ranked at the 12th position amongst 144 countries from around the world and first in the Arab region. This leading position is a result of the support and contributions of women who comprise 50% of the population. Given that human resource development is the main pillar of productivity, we need to continue boosting the capacities in that sector to further improve our competitiveness levels on the international scale. Greater efforts in the areas of education, training and human development are needed to preserve what we have already achieved. Empowering women will need more perseverance and promoting their participation and leadership roles is no longer an option but a necessity, especially since the Arab women have already proven their mettle as catalysts of growth," he added.

Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Minister of International Cooperation and Development and President of Zayed University, in her keynote speech said: "Competitiveness is the driving force for any country looking to grow and advance across all sectors. We need to constantly encourage and promote the talents of Arab women to achieve a highly successful competitive system. The UAE has already established itself as a pioneering example on the competitiveness scale and also as one of the leading countries on the economic map of the world. The nation continue to enjoy bigger successes under the wise leadership of the President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. One such accomplishment is the UAE’s high ranking on the Global Competitiveness Report 2014, which shows that we have surpassed some of the most developed countries of the world in multiple areas.

"Dubai is a proud host of the Arab Women Leadership Forum and we look forward to sharing many success stories and initiatives that have helped strengthen the case for women empowerment in the UAE through this forum," she said.

Mona Al Marri, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of DWE, in her keynote speech, which she presented on behalf of Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, welcomed the distinguished guests to the opening and thanked Sheikh Mohammed for honouring the forum with his presence.

"The Arab women have already proven highly effective in their rightful participation towards the overall development of the society, with their vital roles beginning at home as fundamental pillars of families. The success of the Emirati women in taking on bigger leadership roles has been only possible because of the unwavering support they receive from the government. The conducive surroundings in the workforce further enable them to achieve their goals and steer the country’s growth and progress. This year’ theme 'Towards Global Competitiveness' will serve to continue enhancing their positions in raising the country’s level of competitiveness through creative insights that are generated from the panel discussions over the two days of the forum," she said.

The first panel of the forum, moderated by Sheikha Lubna Qassim, Vice-President, Group Company Secretary and General Counsel, Emirates NBD Bank, UAE, focused on various issues including the impact of women on the national competitiveness of a country, strategies that can help women differentiate themselves in the workforce, roles of women in driving the success of family businesses and overcoming challenges in board rooms and on the corporate front.

Speaking about women’s impact on the national competitiveness of a country, Dr. Farrukh Iqbal, Country Director, GCC Countries, Middle East and North Africa Region, World Bank, USA, said: "Since women comprise one half of the population of any country, they are bound to have a vital impact on national competitiveness. Empowering women is important since they already play an instrumental role in the economic sector as well as those surrounding education, health, food and more. In terms of competitiveness, each country in the world should work at positioning its own strengths while inviting diverse ideologies to shape the overall success across every sector. Any nation’s growth and production can be improved significantly by investing in creating more opportunities for women. Human capital can be improved over time by focussing on women’s education, which will in turn boost productivity. Finding suitable positions in high productivity setting continued to an issue for many women around the world – a challenge that still needs more work. The World Bank is continually looking to invest in projects with components that focus on women’s workforce participation in addition to offering ample training opportunities for them to be able to create a substantial impact at every level."

Shedding light on strategies that would encourage women to distinguish themselves in the development of family businesses, Dr. Hischam El Agamy, Executive Director, Tharawat Family Business Forum and IMD Business School, Switzerland, shared interesting insights and statistics with regard to equal opportunities for women in the workforce. If women’s paid employment rates were raised to the same level as men’s, per capita increase in 15 major developing countries would rise to 14 per cent by 2020 and 20 per cent by 2050. "It is not about changing laws and policies but more importantly, it is about changing the mind-sets. Women are surrounded by a very different ecosystem – a factor that needs to be taken into consideration across the world. To this regard, creating legislative policies is not enough; countries need to design a holistic educational system that will challenge the existing mind-set that limits women from taking on and performing as efficiently as men holding senior roles. The mind-set of women, in my opinion, is stakeholder-oriented, which is key in promoting the holistic development of a nation," he said.

All the panellists agreed with Dr. Hischam’s insights, with Lubna Qassim stressing upon the importance of three E’s: Educate, Entrust and Empower, in giving women the support they need to perform equally in the board room and other sectors.

Professor Yoko Ishikura, Professor Emeritus, Hitotsubashi University, Japan, enlightened the audiences with her experiences and the challenges she faced as the only woman sitting on boards of various corporate setups. She encouraged women to use their uniqueness to their advantage. "It is a challenge being different in terms of sometimes being the only woman sitting on the board of organisations, but women can benefit from that by being confident of their ideas and the unique value they bring to their role. The workforce settings are changing in the coming era and talent is now the most important resource for national competitiveness. Women should be encouraged and be willing to take bigger risks to lay the foundation for innovation."

The forum is organised in collaboration with the forum’s Strategic Partner, Emirates Competitiveness Council, as well as Gold Sponsors DEWA and Nakheel, the communications partner du, media partner Dubai Media Inc. (DMI) and the official carrier Emirates. The event is also supported by Arabian Radio Network (ARN) as the official broadcast partner for the event as well as by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards and Al Nabooda Automobiles (Audi).

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