European Women Association (EWA) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) signed a MoU, during an impressive event

European Women's Association (EWA) is a global ecosystem that supports female founders in their economical development, through a strong ecosystem of founders, corporate partners and public institutions. Respected within the business community and partnering with European Commission and corporations such as Deloitte, UPS, Microsoft, Google and VC funds, EWA is a fast-increasing global network of 50 000 women in business, represented by leaders in 15 countries around the globe.

More than 100 European female entrepreneurs visited the United Arab Emirates in the last year to explore the market with the help of EWA.

„The European economic crisis pushes women to diversify and expand their businesses to new regions. Thanks to our strategic partners in the region, we’ve been successful in helping women to set up businesses in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.

Depending on their needs, we would also help with fundraising and local strategic partnerships. The Ministry of Economy has been a great supporter of our organization, making sure our scaleups get the right legal and financial support. Our next step is to set up a VC fund, investing in scalable projects under EWA Invest structure”, stated Yulia Stark, EWA President (Photo, on the left side).

A recent study by UNESCO indicated that 61% of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics graduates in the UAE are female. Another study indicated that 34 percent of the region’s tech-focused start-ups were founded by women. In the EU, data shows that only 15% of innovative start-ups are founded or co-founded by women, and a mere 6% have all-women founding teams. With female representation steadily increasing, 1 in 4 leadership positions at tech companies is expected to be held by women in the near future.

The constant development of the culture of entrepreneurship, the solutions provided and the learning opportunities to which entrepreneurial minds have access in the UAE has determined European women to explore the business potential of UAE.

„We as entrepreneurs need to continuously explore opportunities within the right ecosystem, leveraging the trusted networks of people that really want to empower women economically and keeping in mind that culture plays an important role”, stated Mihaela Tudor, EWA Country Leader and serial entrepreneur.

The UAE was ranked 1st among the Arab countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2022. UAE has also taken further steps towards gender equality and established UAE’s Gender Balance Index, which was developed in line with the UNDP’s criteria and international best practices, and the issuance of the ‘Gender Balance Guide’ – the first guide of its kind in the world – published in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

According to UNICEF Human Development Report for 2022, UAE ranks 26th worldwide regarding Human Development Index, ahead of states such as Spain, France, or Italy. At the same time, the region of Arab States ranks 1st among the list of developing regions regarding human rights development.