The Policy People Connection Innovation through Entrepreneurship

Well, thank you. That was a wonderful session to follow up on. Um, your excellency, it's a privilege and honor to have you here. Um, maybe I could jump right into the topic and kind of set the table if if you would. Um, can you please kind of give us a scope and scale of women working in the UAE?

Please help us understand the impact women are having on the UAE economy.

Is it working? I think yeah. Uh well uh I'm honored and proud to be here with uh all of you and uh to give me the chance actually to speak as a chairwoman of the EBWC council and um going back to your subject talking about the women uh role uh or participation in the economy if we go backward in history before the UAE was uh formed and the unity was uh not there the women's uh uh participation was significant significant in uh the community because uh men used to go to uh bear diving for a few months. So the ladies in the community themselves they protect the community and do some uh uh crafts local traditional crafts to sell and this and and give participate in that. After the uh United Arab Emirates was formed, actually her highness she the mother of nation was supporting the ladies to uh to uh to enroll in in in the economy by uh supporting them for education, for economy and everything toward the agenda which our father Zama he implemented for the UAE and so on.

And nowadays if you see the participation if we go uh to the uh ministry of economy and see uh the ladies in the UAE the entrepreneur ladies actually they are participating with around 6 billion dirhams in the market working and beyond that they have 25,000 license controlled by 50,000 uh 5,000 ladies UAE ladies entrepreneur That's uh that's that's quite impressive. Um as you look in terms of looking forward uh what skills do you think are necessary to compete and succeed uh in the marketplace?

Yeah, there's a few few skills in my opinion. The first one I would call that uh the the uh person who's in charge should have that strong heart to take a decision for decision when when he's and but not just take it about you know balancing you know the advantage and disadvantage of his position. Secondly, I would say um you have to improve yourself always. Always take a chance, know more people, indulge yourself with many people. Do a network.

Okay? And try to uh find the the lead or the the inspiring let's say inspiring ideas. And my the the the the advice I would strongly hold on don't play one man show always in your business always balance always think always see and if you achieve 85% that's what I tell always my employees I come from a private sector that's an achievement for me you know it shouldn't be 100%. Well, we just heard the last panelist talk about uh resiliency.

Yes.

And how how women are in some ways more

Yes.

resilient.

Yeah.

U could you kind of, you know, expand on what you just uh talked about there?

Can you go back because I I could

The question is about resiliency. Yes. How women uh are and can be more resilient uh in the marketplace. resilience in the women personality the ladies is much more touched than the men because they are they are I mean playing uh or wearing several hats in daily life so I believe if she come as a leader sits as a leader she will be more resilient than men sorry to say that but this is a reality so um in taking decisions as I told you don't play one man show okay always listen and that's what I took from my father actually uh he always say listen to who's younger than you and listen to his to some people who's elder than you and then you take that decision. Yeah.

Fantastic. So as in addition to my role at Atlanta Council, I'm also a professor at Colombia. So this next question is something very near dear to my heart is um how how do you upskill and stay competitive in the marketplace? You keep you have to keep improving yourself always. Not just say I have that certificate, I have that degree and this.

You have to take courses. I mean join groups, enlarge your or widen your network. Okay. Go to meetings, go to lectures. I mean um I the same advice I give it to young people, the entrepreneurs.

I always tell them it's not just to keep your product and think how to market it because each market is different I mean than the other market. So always improve yourself and your skills by study by training by many many things actually. So the balance between learning on the job versus going to university, you know, do you have a perspective on that and you know is there is there a very high opportunity cost to leave the job and go to university to skill yourself?

Um not not to say that but I mean you need a degree by end of the day. Okay. But but I would go back to the universities themselves to tell them don't just let the student in the classroom I need those students or those people to go out and try to be entrepreneurs. Okay. Let train them in the same time you are teaching them like we when we say handson you know you don't don't just wait for them until the last year to give them a traininee or an entrepreneuring in some of the companies either uh private sector or public sector or this no from day one they should be hands on especially the people who's uh studying I mean like business or AI or something in the same time it's a journey parallel journey you know whether with whether you study and you train in the same cell.

Why? Because when he will graduate, he's armed with these skills. Actually, when when when the market and the market keep changing as we said, I mean the laws are keep changing, many things are changing. So when he will be in the market, okay, by graduating at least he has some skills which is um let's say um he doesn't have to start from zero,

right?

Okay. Yeah. So maybe we could talk about the break the skills down a little bit. Hard skills versus soft skills.

You know, learning quantitative technical knowledge versus learning things like leadership, ethics, communications.

Exactly.

What's necessary? Do you all the above or how do you balance between those elements?

Um well well in the beginning he's a freshman. Okay. To the the university. If I'm talking about students, they need to um strength their personality, their network. Okay?

And then let's say by the second semester or the next year, they should be in the in the in the market itself and so on. And I mean um having a trainee for two to three weeks, yes, it's okay. But I don't support it that much actually. I I I would like the the student to be in in in a company especially the private sector for at least two months for at least

Yeah.

Well, you brought up networking. So, how important is networking to facilitating your career? How do you think about that in terms of career progression? Networking is one of the very most important skill the young entrepreneurs have to have or by keeping your relationship connecting with people and such like now we did connect already with I I myself I did connect I mean with you and with other people so I always describe it for my children it's like when you throw a stone in a lake and the circles goes widen and widen so you start having because you don't know I might need this person now but in the future he might need my support you know so I know where which door to knock and which door to reach and speak about my merchandise or whatever which is will cut let's say the expenses of marketing you know for them yeah that's the uh

well so one part is networking the other find a part is finding a mentor

yes

someone that can advocate for you advise you what advice would you give to a young person in terms of how to find a good mentor.

Um, by the network he's going to build or she's going to build by that time I I mean, subhan Allah, I mean it's God will you might find lots of them. It's not one I mean for me when I started because I I I was with my father so I find many old alman was advising me um by when we said since he was training or she was training through the university journey they will start having it's it might be the professor himself it might be the dean it might be the boss who I worked with or I trained with and it's going on you know it's an extra

so what What's what type of to be a good mentee? What does one need to do

as a mentee?

Yeah, as a mentee. Yeah.

You know, what do you need to do,

you know, to help you find a good mentor? um to look at I don't want to call it a profile or I mean the history but you have to look at what he achieved or what he's in position and the way he treat you and the way he speak to you and this is all I I for me it's more emotional maybe you know if you are connected to someone and I think your mentor will be will lighten your way and will give you the better advice which you were thinking to take it or not, you know. So, as I told you, you listen to the who's elder and who's younger and then take your decision. This is the way it should be.

Well, so you're saying you should also give back. So, your role as a leader, as a young woman growing up in a profession, what responsibility does that young woman have to mentor and support other people?

Yeah. uh this is what I and what I'm doing now as my role in as a chairwoman for my uh Emirates business woman council. I play a a main role or my core of work is I work as a link between the Emirati ladies uh entrepreneurs and to to connect them either regionally or worldwide. I go I travel around I bring chances new new projects new whatever and sit and give them you know displayed uh to them and they take it. This is this is my main core of work to connect to connect.

So we're almost out of time, but let me leave with the last question. So what's what's the one thing a young person needs today, a young woman needs today to succeed?

Knowledge. I would say knowledge. This is the the the first thing before starting the project. And second, network. Third, a brave heart.

to cross the market. This is Yeah. Yeah.

Well, that's wonderful advice to leave on.

Thank you very much, Eric. Appreciate the conversation.

Thank you.