DBWC President lauds report on businesswomen

Mrs. Raja Easa Al Gurg expressed her views in her speech during the DBWC monthly lunch in the presence of DBWC Board Members and officials from Dubai Women's College (DWC). The event was held at DWC on the occasion of launching the "Women Business Owners in the United Arab Emirates" Report, which is a part of a regional project focusing on other countries also like Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia.

The capacity building project was undertaken and is managed jointly by the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Gender Entrepreneurship Markets (GEM) program and the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) in partnership with local businesswomen's associations and research centers. In the UAE, the DWC is the research center, working in cooperation with DBWC and other associations. The report intends to expand knowledge of women's entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region by conducting a survey of female-owned businesses in the five countries.

Mrs. Raja Easa Al Gurg thanked DWC supervisors and those who participated in the research study that aimed to build the capacity of businesswomen's associations and research centers to better serve their members. "This report on women business owners in the United Arab Emirates, helps recognize the increasingly important role that businesswomen play in the country's dynamic economy. The project covers most of the business aspects and statistics of local business activities and gives an insight into the characteristics and challenges of female business owners," she added.

Mrs. Raja explained that 44% of the women-owned businesses in the UAE are small and only 2% are medium-sized. The activities of the DBWC are focused on helping women expand their businesses from small to medium. The survey results identified that one of the main challenges facing women-owned businesses is access to capital.

Two new initiatives have been launched in the UAE to address the needs and to encourage businesswomen to invest in funds that are run by recognized banks and highly recommended investors. For example, Forsa is a fund that caters to wealthy women who aim to invest amounts over AED1m. Enmaa is a fund for investors from the business community who wish to invest amounts starting from USD1000.

"This research project showed that the businesswomen surveyed in the UAE are young, well-educated and optimistic about their future. They run small, technology-enhanced, mostly service type businesses that tend to have international connections and are generally self-funded," said Dr. Monica Gallant, Business Department Chair at DWC and UAE research partner.

The survey findings reveal that 89% of the women tend to have an optimistic outlook on the economy and for their businesses. 73% of the women surveyed are planning for growth and expansion through increased revenues or employment and/or accessing new markets.

45% of the women felt that one of the three most important areas for the government to address was to create special loan funds or loan guarantee schemes to help businesswomen with financing. 32% favored the development of a special government advisory board for women's business development issues.

37% of the women reported that one of the three most important issues was the reduction in the amount of money it took to register a business and 35% highly desired a change in employment laws to increase business flexibility for hiring and replacing workers.

Businesswomen were also interested in acquiring further training and development. 79% of the women felt it would be very helpful for their businesses to learn more about how to access new markets at home and aboard.

69% of the surveyed women felt it would be beneficial to attend training programs on business management, leadership and financial management issues, 65% liked to learn more on how to use technology to grow businesses and 61% favored meeting regularly with other women business owners in the country to share ideas and experiences.