World’s most powerful Arab woman in town to promote UAE-SL trade

Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, the most powerful Arab woman in the world, who is also the Minister of Foreign Trade of United Arab Emirates, will be arriving in Colombo tomorrow on a three-day official visit amidst renewed bilateral trade efforts between Sri Lanka and UAE.

She is visiting Sri Lanka on a special invitation extended to her by Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen on 23 May in Abu Dhabi.

Bathiudeen on 23 November announced her pending visit at his special meeting with top officials of the Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka.

Al Qasimi has been recognised by the Arab media as the most powerful among the Arab female power elite. With her background in IT, Al Qasimi, as the Head of Information Technology at the Dubai Ports Authority, developed a system that reduced cargo turnaround at Dubai Ports Authority from one hour to 10 minutes, thereby challenging the traditional role of Arab women in business.

The Middle East’s first business-to-business marketplace ‘Tejari’ (‘commerce’) was founded in 2000 by Al Qasimi and as a result, more than two thirds of Dubai’s Government purchases are now made online.

In November 2004 she was appointed the UAE’s Minister of Economic and Planning, becoming the first female to hold a ministerial post in the UAE. Al Qasimi also sits on Board of Directors for the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.  In June 2008, she launched her own perfume line, ‘Mukhalat Sheikha Lubna,’ at Saks Fifth Avenue in Dubai.  

Al Qasimi, who frequently leads UAE biz delegations abroad, will be leading a trade delegation to Sri Lanka from 23 to 26 November based on the invitation by Minister Bathiudeen, who paid her a courtesy call at the Abu Dhabi’s Ministry of Foreign Trade office in May 2011.

“In our May 2011 meeting, we both agreed that the ‘trading hub’ outlook of both economies could jointly be used to avail global market opportunities,” Minister Bathiudeen added.

During her visit, she will also lead the UAE-Sri Lanka Business Forum to be held in Colombo on 24 November.

Currently, UAE-Sri Lanka trade turnover stands at US$ 548.4 m (2010), of which Sri Lankan exports to UAE amounted to US$ 246.2 m, making UAE one of the key trading partners in the Middle East. During the May 2011 meet, Minister Bathiudeen informed Al Qasimi of the unrealised future trade potential between the two countries in the background of renewed bilateral trade cooperation efforts.

UAE has become the largest foreign direct investor to Sri Lanka among the Gulf countries. Among the well-known UAE conglomerates operating in Sri Lanka are Etisalat (mobile telecom), Al Ghuraia (real estate and manufacturing) and Al Futaim (automobile retailing), boosting Sri Lanka’s corporate sector outlook significantly.