Sheikha Lubna rises in Forbes list of most powerful women

Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Development and International Cooperation, has been ranked as the 55th most powerful woman in the world for 2014 according to a survey conducted by Forbes magazine.

Last year, she was ranked as the 67th most powerful.

Fatima Obeid Al Jaber, chairperson of the Emirates Business Women Council, was ranked 94th, the first time she has been ranked. She became the first Emirati woman to be elected to the board of directors at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce in 2009.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, retained her top ranking for another year. Rounding out the top five were Janet Yellen, chairwoman of the US Federal Reserve; Melinda Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Dilma Rousseff, president of Brazil; and Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund.

Sheikha Lubna, 56, was the first woman to assume a Cabinet position in the UAE, having joined as Minister of Economy in 2004. She later became Minister of Foreign Trade four years later.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science from California State University of Chico in 1981 and an executive MBA from the American University in Sharjah in 2002.

Other women from the region listed included Saudi Lubna Olayan, 86th, chief executive of Olayan Financing Company, as well as Qatari Sheikha Mayassa Al Thani, 91st, chairwoman of the Qatar Museums Authority.

Forbes previously named Sheikha Lubna the most powerful Arab woman in 2010.