INSEAD Day 4 - 728x90

Mashreq Q1 profit rises

Total revenue increased 10% year-on-year.

TECOM profit climbs

High occupancy across assets boosts earnings.

Emirates Stallions Q1 revenue up 11%

The rise helped by strong demand in real estate

ADNOC Distribution 2025 dividend $700m

The company had reported EBITDA of $1.17 bn in 2025.

Empower okays $119.1m H2 2025 dividend

The dividend is equivalent to 43.75% of paid-up capital.

Gender bender: GCC moves to empower more women

More women in the workforce translates to a larger workforce and more earnings for each family, which in turn boosts the spending power of families.
  • The UAE and Canada held discussions last month on how to enhance cooperation to empower women
  • Statistics from Saudi Arabia from last year showed more women had entered the workforce, even as unemployment dropped

Member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council are increasingly working towards the empowerment of women.

After all, that automatically translates to a larger workforce and more earnings for each family, which in turn boosts the spending power of families.

For example, the UAE and Canada held discussions last month on how to enhance cooperation to empower women.

And with more women joining STEM courses in the country, we may expect to see more of them in research and engineering positions in various public and private-sector ventures.

Meanwhile, a little more than halfway through last year, statistics from Saudi Arabia said more women had entered the workforce, even as unemployment dropped.

Women entrepreneurs in the Arab region have it easier these days, said Muna AbuSulayman, highlighting that they are becoming job-creators as well.

Meanwhile, private firms are starting to commit to hiring more women in various roles and capacities.

Here’s a comparative look at the labor forces in the GCC economies, categorized by gender, and how they stack up against some of the biggest developed countries from across the world: