‘Empowering Emirati women is a key part of economic plans’

In line with the leadership’s vision to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment across sectors, the Ministry of Economy and the Gender Balance Council agreed to strengthen collaboration to enhance women’s economic participation, especially in the field of entrepreneurship.

The two government bodies will establish joint teams to help boost women’s entrepreneurship in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the larger efforts being undertaken to make the UAE one of the top 25 countries in the UNDP Gender Inequality Index by 2021.

Working in coordination with local and federal entities, the Ministry and the Council will propose policies and legislations to encourage Emirati women to undertake new economic activities that will make them stronger players in the national economy.

Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy, said that empowering Emirati women is a key part of the UAE’s economic and social development plans. “Emirati women have excelled and made a strong mark in various sectors, especially in economic fields. With a distinctive footprint in the UAE’s business sector, women occupy leading positions both at national and regional levels. However, we must further intensify cooperation among government bodies to ensure there is even greater women’s participation in the economy, especially in the entrepreneurial and SME sectors.”

Al Mansoori said the cooperation between his Ministry and the Gender Balance Council aims to comprehensively reduce the gender gap across the economy. It also supports the objectives of the UAE Vision 2021 and UAE Centennial 2071.

Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council Mona Al Marri expressed her happiness at the cooperation between the Gender Balance Council and the Ministry of Economy. She said the combined efforts of the two organisations will help further raise the economic role of Emirati women, particularly in the entrepreneurial sector, a key pillar of UAE national economy. She added that the cooperation represents a model for collaboration between government entities in achieving national objectives.

Al Marri said the Council, under the leadership of Sheikha Manal Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is working closely with various government bodies to establish the UAE as a global role model for gender equality. The Council aims to reduce the gender gap across sectors, enhance the UAE’s ranking in global gender balance reports, promote gender balance among decision makers and help the UAE create new global benchmarks in gender balance legislation.

The meeting also discussed a number of projects and initiatives aimed at reducing the gender gap in the fields of economy, commerce and investment. These initiatives include exchanging experiences about legislations and policies related to entrepreneurship, organising training programmes for women entrepreneurs, supporting women-led SMEs and startups, and encouraging the private sector and business community to adopt international gender balance best practices.

The Ministry of Economy and the Gender Balance Council also agreed to establish a proactive mechanism to activate their collaboration and develop joint teams to support women in the fields of entrepreneurship, programmes related to enhancing exports and innovation, and identify business activities that are high priority for government entities.

Separately, The Ministry of Economy and the Dubai Future Foundation today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promot the dissemination of knowledge and scientific content in Arabic, this to develop future skills, prepare a generation of future leaders, as well as, to keep the public well informed on the latest global trends, emerging technologies and breakthroughs in innovative.

Signed by Khalfan Juma Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation and Engineer Mohammed Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al Shehhi, Undersecretary for Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Economy of the UAE, the MOU signing ceremony took place during the Dubai Future Week which is under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation.

The collaboration aims to stimulate innovation, disseminate scientific content and launch joint initiatives between the Ministry of Economy and the Dubai Future Foundation to develop a competitive knowledge-based economy that is built on encouraging innovation with scientific information, success models and innovations that encourage positive thinking.

As part of the partnership, Al Mostaqbal Portal, part of the content dissemination team at the Dubai Future Foundation will develop and design a variety of scientific materials in various sectors on a regular basis for publication in the Ministry’s knowledge platforms, electronic publications and social media platforms.

Mohammed Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al Shehhi, highlighted that the ministry is keen to enhance cooperation with its various federal and local partners and that the Dubai Future Foundation is one of the leading organizations in the country to develop initiatives and projects that work on foresight and co creation for a better future.

Agencies