Officials and the eight distinguished women who were honoured for their services to business and their professions with their awards at the gala dinner yesterday.
DOHA: Qatari women are gradually making inroads into the vibrant oil and gas sector and taking up jobs that have for long been exclusive domain of men, according to the Energy and Industry Minister.
H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada told a Qatar international businesswomen’s forum on Monday that in the services sector of oil and gas Qatari women accounted for more than a third (41 percent) of the employees.
He said the UN Millennium Development Goals report on Qatar also mentions that half the shares traded on the Qatar bourse were by local women investors.
The state’s energy arm, Qatar Petroleum, is a good example of Qatari women’s increasing employment.
“They account for half the number of women employees,” he said.
They have also entered the financial sector in a big way.
The Minister said some 3,500 private companies across different sectors are owned by Qatari women.
The sectors these companies are from include industry, financial services, trading and tourism, among others.
As for the government sector, Qatari women account for a third of the employees.
The Minister said women’s participation in the country’s development was an essential part of the government’s strategy.
“Through education and training we have managed to make a difference in the realm of women’s empowerment,” Al Sada said.
The Peninsula
