Regional stability depends on success of Arab women

Al Kaylani, pictured, said Arab women needed the support of governments, the private sector and academic institutions.

The future stability of the region depends on the success of Arab women in the economy, the chairman of the Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF) told ArabianBusiness.com on Monday.

Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani said that women’s role in the economy will be one of the deciding factors on how stable the Middle East will be in future.

“Women’s role in the economy is crucial to the success and stability of the Middle East, as is reviving the private sector, reducing the role of government and creating a system and spirit of entrepreneurship,” Al Kaylani said, speaking on the sidelines of the AIWF conference in Dubai.

Al Kaylani said that there are a number of key challenges facing Arab women including the continued misconception by the Western world that every Arab female is “backward and uneducated”.

The AIWF chairman said support from governments, the private sector and academic institutions was crucial to increase the number of successful businesswomen in the region.

“There has to be more leadership from the top and continued leadership from governments and their first ladies," she said.

“There also has to be more support from the private sector to encourage women to join them as well as giving them training and a push into the new knowledge-based economy.

“And we also need to encourage a lot more young women from universities into areas such as banking and finance in order for them to become leaders and be placed in high-ranking positions of responsibility. We need to create a new crop of women."

Al Kaylani echoed Sheikha Lubna’s earlier comments on entrepreneurship and said that the Arab world had to foster women entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

“SMEs are crucial to the success of any economy and an increasing number of women are entering that space. To encourage this we should give women better access to venture capital embracing their ideas and give them the right access to finance so they can start and grow businesses.”

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