'Women empowerment central to Qatar's prosperity': Sheikha Alanoud

The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Qatari Businesswomen Association (QBWA), recently held a special event to celebrate the International Women's Day (IWD).
The event 'Embracing Technology to Build Gender-Balanced Societies’ brought together diplomats and experts from different fields to discuss the innovative ways technology is used to promote gender equality and inclusion.
“In Qatar, we’ve experienced an incredible 70% annual growth in FDI (foreign direct investment) projects for the past several years. Technology and the digital economy have been critical to this growth... Throughout the region, women are a driving force behind the transformation that is underway," said Sheikha Alanoud al-Thani, deputy chief executive officer and chief business officer, QFC.
Highlighting that there is an undisputed recognition that to succeed in today’s global economy, it is essential to empower women; she said numerous studies have shown that levelling the playing field between women and men has major economic benefits, and countries that fail to do so lag behind their peers.
"Empowering women has helped Qatar prosper as never before. Qatar is booming, and women are a key reason for that growth," she said.
Speakers at the event included Aisha Hussain Alfardan, vice-chairwoman, QBWA, and Cristian Tudor – Head of European Delegation to Qatar, who shared their insight on the work toward achieving gender equality.
"Technology has the power to change lives, break down barriers, create opportunities for all, and improve conditions in marginalised societies. However, women still face significant challenges in accessing technology, especially in developing countries where the gender digital gap is more apparent," Aisha Alfardan said.
The agenda included a panel discussion featuring Karin Fitchtinger Grohe, ambassador of Austria to Qatar; Dr Noora Fetais, founding secretary-general of the Arab Association for Cybersecurity, and Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Qatar University; Maya Oweini, director of operations, PricewaterhouseCoopers; and Rising Leader Yara al-Fetais al-Marri, who engaged in an in-depth discussion on how to enhance women’s participation in building a brighter future with the aid of innovative technologies and the measures and strategies countries should take into consideration to promote equity.
Stressing the significance of observing IWD, Bassam Hajhamad, country senior partner and consulting leader for PwC Qatar, said it is a key opportunity for all females within the industry to celebrate their success stories, which is a fundamental part of its inclusion agenda.
"We strive to ensure that diversity is at the heart of what we do by providing the right opportunities and environment for our female colleagues to grow and become future leaders. Encouraging and recognising diversity and equality across the workplace is a measure of our own personal and professional success,” he said.