STANDFIRST: This March 7, The Business Year will host a panel discussion, Female Voices & The Qatari Economy, commemorating International Women’s Day

Doha, March 7, 2021—The Business Year, in partnership with The Qatari Businesswomen Association, is hosting a special event, Female Voices & The Qatari Economy, this Monday, March 7, in the Sidra Ballroom at JW Marriot Marquis. 

The event will be attended by an audience of top-level individuals from the public and private sectors, who will gather to discuss the diversification of the nation’s economy through the voices of female leaders, as well as the added value they are bringing in sectors such as finance, health, education, ICT, and sports. It is sponsored by Masraf al Rayan and Microsoft. 

Monday’s program will begin with a welcome note from Aisha Hussein Alfardan, Vice Chairwoman of the Qatari Businesswomen Association (QBWA) and co-host of the ceremony, followed by a keynote speech by Sheikha Alanoud Bint Hamad Al-Thani, Deputy CEO at Qatar Financial Centre, regarding the opportunities of doing business in Qatar.

This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring key personalities from various sectors of the country, including Machaille Al-Naimi, President of Community Development at Qatar Foundation; Dr. Muna Al Maslamani, Medical Director of the Communicable Diseases Center at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC); Lana Khalaf, Country General Manager of Microsoft and Fatma Al-Nuaimi, Communications Executive Director at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy.

The session will be moderated by Nataly Almanza Madrid, Country Manager for The Business Year in Qatar, and will feature a discussion on education for women’s empowerment. Each speaker will be discussing how they face the challenge of underrepresentation in their sector and how women in the workplace can serve as a model for empowerment in areas such as the sports, digital transition, fintech, the 4th industrial revolution, and sustainability.

So as Qatar makes progress toward National Vision 2030, a broad blueprint for a knowledge-driven, diversified economy, the occasion will offer the international business community the opportunity to raise awareness and understand the role that women are playing as enablers for human capital transformation, economic development, and diversification.

The Business Year is a global media group that has been present in Qatar for eight consecutive years and will launch its eighth annual publication, The Business Year: Qatar 2022, FIFA World Cup Special Edition, in the second half of 2022.