Maryam Al Mehairi, director of government liaison at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Sarah Dea / The National
Maryam Al Mehairi, director of government liaison at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Sarah Dea / The National
Maryam Al Mehairi, director of government liaison at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Sarah Dea / The National
Maryam Al Mehairi, director of government liaison at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Sarah Dea / The National

Women in the UAE: Maryam Al Mehairi


  • English
  • Arabic

DUBAI // Maryam Al Mehairi has a message for women wanting to climb the career ladder — don’t let your gender hold you back.

As the director of government liaison at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), her job requires her to coordinate some of the region’s biggest trade exhibitions.

It can be a highly pressurised job in an often male-dominated industry, but one Ms Al Mehairi would liken to see other Emirati women take a prominent role in.

“The exhibitions industry in particular needs more female role models in the workplace,” she said.

“The UAE government is providing strong support for women’s careers. My advice to young women is not to be afraid of any challenge and not to let their gender hold them back.”

Ms Al Mehairi credits DWTC for helping further the careers of its female employees.

The Dubai company has a good mix of female and male staff — both Emiratis and expatriates, she said. It is an environment where everyone is treated equally and it is hard work and drive, not nationality or gender, that helps an employee progress.

“Being a woman has not held me back at DWTC,” she said. “It is a very open-minded environment.

“If you are good at your job, then you can move up the career ladder.

“DWTC staff always encourage women as leaders, and give them the opportunities to reach new heights.”

Her journey at DWTC began eight years ago after graduating from Zayed University with a bachelor’s degree in business applied to information technology.

Starting out first as an assistant sales manager in the consumer events department, Ms Al Mehairi worked her way up to become the director of government liaison.

It is now the Emirati’s role to manage the government participation at two major exhibitions: Gitex Technology Week, the leading ICT exhibition in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia region; and Cabsat, the largest trade show in the Mena region for broadcasting, satellite and connected digital media.

Climbing the career ladder was made easier by her supportive co-workers, she said.

“I have received full support from DWTC. My colleagues taught me how to become a salesperson and develop marketing skills.

“We help one another to overcome challenges and learn from one another. We can take experiences from our own shows and apply that expertise to other shows.”

As she earns more responsibility, Ms Al Mehairi said she has had to be careful not to let work take over her personal life.

“At first it was an adjustment working in the events sector, especially coordinating with international schedules,” she said. “But after several years it is become much easier to balance my family and personal life.

“My biggest challenge was three years ago when my late father was sick and I had to manage both my family and workload. But I received full support from DWTC.”

Ms Al Mehairi is one of a growing number of women being recognised in the workplace.

“Across the UAE, women have taken on leading roles across the public and private sectors compared to when I was growing up,” she said.

“Over the next decade, we’ll see more women in the private sector, starting their own businesses, and representing the UAE overseas.”

Ms Al Mehairi now makes time to mentor other young female employees starting on their career path.

She hopes, with the right guidance, more and more Emirati women will take a leading role in business.

“There is a saying in the UAE: “I may cover my head, but I do not cover my mind”. That means that while women respect UAE traditions, they also want to advance their careers.

“Women in the UAE need to take the risk and know that they can achieve a lot.”

jbell@thenational.ae

Iftar programme at the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding

Established in 1998, the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding was created with a vision to teach residents about the traditions and customs of the UAE. Its motto is ‘open doors, open minds’. All year-round, visitors can sign up for a traditional Emirati breakfast, lunch or dinner meal, as well as a range of walking tours, including ones to sites such as the Jumeirah Mosque or Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.

Every year during Ramadan, an iftar programme is rolled out. This allows guests to break their fast with the centre’s presenters, visit a nearby mosque and observe their guides while they pray. These events last for about two hours and are open to the public, or can be booked for a private event.

Until the end of Ramadan, the iftar events take place from 7pm until 9pm, from Saturday to Thursday. Advanced booking is required.

For more details, email openminds@cultures.ae or visit www.cultures.ae

 

Listen to Extra Time

Babumoshai Bandookbaaz

Director: Kushan Nandy

Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami

Three stars

Other must-tries

Tomato and walnut salad

A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.

Badrijani nigvzit

A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.

Pkhali

This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.

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The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books

Company profile

Name: Thndr

Started: October 2020

Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: FinTech

Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000

Funding stage: series A; $20 million

Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC,  Rabacap and MSA Capital

THE SPECS

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch

Power: 710bhp

Torque: 770Nm

Speed: 0-100km/h 2.9 seconds

Top Speed: 340km/h

Price: Dh1,000,885

On sale: now

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%20synchronous%20electric%20motors%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E660hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2C100Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETouring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E488km-560km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh850%2C000%20(estimate)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOctober%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Cricket World Cup League Two

Oman, UAE, Namibia

Al Amerat, Muscat

 

Results

Oman beat UAE by five wickets

UAE beat Namibia by eight runs

 

Fixtures

Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia

Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE

Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia

Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia

AndhaDhun

Director: Sriram Raghavan

Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan

Rating: 3.5/5

The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan

Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm

Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km

RESULTS

5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000, 2,400m
Winner: Recordman, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer)

5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000, 2,200m​​​​​​​
Winner: AF Taraha, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000, 1,400m​​​​​​​
Winner: Dhafra, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel

6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000, 1,400m​​​​​​​
Winner: Maqam, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel

7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000, 1,600m​​​​​​​
Winner: AF Momtaz, Fernando Jara, Musabah Al Muhairi

7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000, 1,600m​​​​​​​
Winner: Optimizm, Patrick Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi

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The specs

Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo and dual electric motors

Power: 300hp at 6,000rpm

Torque: 520Nm at 1,500-3,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.0L/100km

Price: from Dh199,900

On sale: now

BRIEF SCORES:

Toss: Nepal, chose to field

UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23

Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17

Result: UAE won by 21 runs

Series: UAE lead 1-0

A general guide to how active you are:

Less than 5,000 steps - sedentary

5,000 - 9,999 steps - lightly active

10,000  - 12,500 steps - active

12,500 - highly active

Mountain%20Boy
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Play-off fixtures

Two-legged ties to be played November 9-11 and November 12-14

 

  • Northern Ireland v Switzerland
  • Croatia v Greece
  • Denmark v Ireland
  • Sweden v Italy
The specs

Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder

Power: 70bhp

Torque: 66Nm

Transmission: four-speed manual

Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000

On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970

box

COMPANY PROFILE

Company name: Letstango.com

Started: June 2013

Founder: Alex Tchablakian

Based: Dubai

Industry: e-commerce

Initial investment: Dh10 million

Investors: Self-funded

Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month