- UAE Chapter of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance (WBA) advances delivery-focused agenda for women’s economic participation at New Delhi summit
- Discussions focus on practical initiatives for women’s participation across key growth sectors, spanning finance, technology, healthcare, tourism, creative industries and food security
- BRICS WBA Women-Led Development Summit and Annual General Meeting form part of wider business engagement ahead of 18th BRICS Summit held under India’s 2026 BRICS Presidency
- UAE Chapter led by DMCC Deputy CEO and COO Feryal Ahmadi
The UAE Chapter of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance (WBA) concluded its participation in the WBA’s Women-Led Development Summit and WBA Annual General Meeting in New Delhi, advancing a delivery- and cooperation-focused agenda on women’s entrepreneurship, leadership and economic participation across BRICS markets.
The summit and meeting formed part of the wider business engagement around India’s 2026 BRICS Presidency and the 18th BRICS Summit. Held under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, the Summit brings together the wider BRICS agenda, with the WBA working alongside the BRICS Business Council and other economic cooperation mechanisms to strengthen women’s participation in trade, investment and cross-border business.
Led by Feryal Ahmadi, UAE Chapter Chair to the BRICS WBA, and Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer of DMCC, the delegation set out the UAE’s perspective across some of the WBA’s most commercially significant areas – from finance and technology to healthcare, tourism, the creative economy and food security.
At the Annual General Meeting, the UAE Chapter contributed across the WBA working groups, joined fellow Chapters in adopting the BRICS WBA Annual Report 2026 and held talks on potential areas for cross-border cooperation. The Chapter is developing a pipeline of initiatives spanning financial literacy and investment readiness, talent development, women’s health, intellectual property, agricultural market access and startup acceleration.
Feryal Ahmadi, Chair of the BRICS WBA UAE Chapter and Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer of DMCC, said: “We see the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance as a platform for translating relationships into tangible opportunities in trade, investment and market access, while leveraging the UAE’s ability to connect businesses, capital and opportunities across BRICS economies and global markets.”
H.E. Ayesha Al Mulla, Co-Chair, BRICS UAE Chapter Tourism Working Group and Chairwoman of the UAE Businesswomen Council said: “The value of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance lies in the strength of the network itself and in our ability to translate that network into opportunity. This goes beyond investment alone. It is about connecting women and businesses to markets, practical use cases, knowledge, successful policy approaches and partners across BRICS economies. At the same time, our economic interventions must remain measurable: we should be able to demonstrate the partnerships created, businesses entering new markets, opportunities generated and models that can be adapted and scaled across economies.”
H.E. Badreya Al Maidoor, Co-Chair of the BRICS WBA Inclusive Economy Working Group and Assistant Undersecretary at the Ministry of Economy and Tourism: “Economic empowerment must move beyond access towards genuine agency. Women need the knowledge and confidence to make economic decisions, the skills and networks to identify opportunities, and access to capital to build and scale. The objective is not simply to enable women to participate in their local economies, but to equip them to build sustainable businesses, access investment and markets, and pursue opportunities across borders. Within BRICS, we have an important opportunity to connect financial inclusion with entrepreneurship, investment readiness and market access so that participation translates into lasting economic value.”
Prof. Dr. Hoda Alkhzaimi, Co-Chair of the BRICS WBA Creative Industries Working Group and National Expert in Advanced Sciences and the Future Economy: “We are not speaking only about enabling women to enter existing sectors. We are speaking about enabling women to be among those building the new economies – as founders, investors, innovators, decision-makers and owners of the economic value these economies create. We should not look at the 11 economies as separate markets, but as an interconnected economic architecture. Talent may exist in one market, scientific or industrial capability in another, capital in a third, and infrastructure and opportunities for scale elsewhere. Catalytic economic value is created when we connect these assets and translate them into shared economic capacity.”
Established under the mandate of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UAE Chapter brings together government and private-sector expertise to support the WBA’s economic agenda. DMCC supports the Chapter through Feryal Ahmadi’s role as Chair, its international trade infrastructure, business networks and specialised industry ecosystems.
The UAE Chapter is chaired by Feryal Ahmadi, Chair of the BRICS WBA UAE Chapter and Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer of DMCC. Its leadership and working group representatives include H.E. Ayesha Al Mulla, Co-Chair of the BRICS WBA Tourism Working Group and Chairwoman of the UAE Businesswomen Council; H.E. Badreya Al Maidoor, Co-Chair of the BRICS WBA Inclusive Economy Working Group and Assistant Undersecretary at the Ministry of Economy and Tourism; Prof. Dr. Hoda Alkhzaimi, Co-Chair of the BRICS WBA Creative Industries Working Group and National Expert in Advanced Sciences and the Future Economy; Dr. Ibtesam Al Bastaki, Co-Chair of the Healthcare Working Group; and Abeer Al Ameeri, Co-Chair of the Innovative Development Working Group and Director of Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa).
Together, the team reflects the breadth of the UAE’s contribution to the WBA across trade and investment, tourism, inclusive growth, advanced sciences, creative industries, healthcare, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The BRICS Women’s Business Alliance was established in 2020 to advance women’s entrepreneurship, leadership and economic participation across BRICS economies, connecting national Chapters through six working groups and a programme of business cooperation.