"Sharjah businesswomen" Launches partnerships and initiatives to enhance the economic role of women

Sharjah, December 24 / WAM / The year 2025 witnessed a qualitative transformation in the size and impact of the initiatives launched, organized and in which the Sharjah Businesswomen Council participated, which established its position as an integrated entrepreneurial system that supports women at all stages of their journey in the business world, from the first idea and capacity building to expansion in regional and global markets and enabling women’s companies to contribute to international supply chains, embodying the council’s commitment to the vision of Sharjah and the UAE towards consolidating sustainable development goals by promoting a culture of entrepreneurship. Business.

Maryam bin Al Sheikh, Director of the Sharjah Businesswomen Council, said that the year 2025 witnessed a qualitative shift in the council’s practices, enhancing its role as an integrated economic system that transforms the ambitions of women entrepreneurs into a viable added value. This comes in line with international indicators that confirm the strength of the empowerment base in the UAE, where women’s participation in the workforce reached 54.1% in 2024 according to World Bank data. The country also obtained a perfect score in five detailed axes in the World Bank report (Women, Business Activities, and Law 2024) including entrepreneurship and salaries, demonstrating the importance of investing in the rehabilitation and expansion initiatives pursued by the Council to accelerate the growth of women’s companies and ensure their sustainability.

The Sharjah Businesswomen Council began the year 2025 with a dialogue session entitled “Your Voice, Our Vision” in the “Lamma Space” on Aljada in Sharjah, which focused on reviewing initiatives and programs for the year 2024 and discussing ways to develop them. In the city of Kalba, the Council organized a session “Shedding light on entrepreneurship” within the “Dialogue and Inspiration” series, which brought together council members with experts and trainers in entrepreneurship and provided them with a practical platform to discuss challenges and ways to transform them into growth opportunities.

During its participation in the “Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival 2025,” the Council provided sponsorship for the “Made in Sharjah” area, in addition to organizing a discussion session that discussed entrepreneurship, innovation, and enhancing growth opportunities, while launching the “Nomu” initiative as a qualitative platform to empower female entrepreneurs by providing exclusive display and sales spaces for women’s brands and enhancing their presence in the markets.

The Council continued its capacity-building efforts by launching the “Business Readiness Camp” in May, where a group of female entrepreneurs participated in an intensive program that focused on corporate legal frameworks, contract drafting, and intellectual property rights.

The Sharjah Businesswomen Council, in cooperation with the American University of Sharjah, organized the third forum in a series of dialogue forums that it launched with the aim of strengthening the female entrepreneurship sector, in addition to honoring a number of its members in the “Pearl Quest” competition, which witnessed the presentation of eight emerging women’s projects before a specialized jury.

The circle of empowerment expanded to include sectors that embody the identity of the region, as the Council participated in the “Emirates Perfumes and Oud Exhibition 2025” through a special pavilion that included local women’s brands in one of the most important specialized exhibitions in the region. In the luxury goods sector, the Council participated as the official strategic partner of the “Middle East Watches and Jewelry Exhibition 2025.”

In the field of technology and innovation, the Council opened the door for nominations for emerging female companies to participate in the “Expand North Star 2025” exhibition in Dubai, providing full sponsorship for eight women’s companies to obtain exhibition booths in the exhibition. It also provided participating companies with the opportunity to participate in the “Supernova Challenge”, the largest global competition for startup company presentations, with prizes amounting to $214,000.

He also opened the doors of global supply chains to female entrepreneurs through the Sharjah Trade Mission to China, which he organized in cooperation with the Sharjah Center for Entrepreneurship (Sheraa) and the Sharjah Foundation for Supporting Entrepreneurial Projects (Ruwad), while organizing a dialogue forum entitled “Social Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship: Paths to Visions and Opportunities” that focused on corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship.

The Sharjah Businesswomen Council contributed to preparing a road map for the circular economy in the UAE by organizing the third session of the “Businesswomen’s Councils Forum” 2025 under the slogan “Empowering communication, enhancing influence, and building the future.” It discussed the future of the circular economy in the country, ways to increase the resilience of societies, and the importance of human-centered business models.

During the year 2025, the Council participated in formulating a new economic discourse that places innovation, sustainability, and women’s participation among its priorities, consolidating its position as a major gateway for women entrepreneurs towards the economy of the future and a platform for transforming innovative ideas into projects and success stories emanating from Sharjah and the UAE to the world.

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