São Paulo – Three Arab women are among the 100 most powerful women in the world, according to a ranking by North American magazine Forbes, disclosed on Wednesday (22). The first is the CEO of the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), Shaikha Al-Bahar, who is in the 85th position.
According to the publication, the organisation has 176 branches around the world and total assets of US$ 51.1 billion. In the first half of this year, the institution had net profit of US$ 431.2 million, below the US$ 523.5 million of the same period in 2011, but, according to the magazine, it is still one of the Middle Eastern banks that receive best evaluation from specialized vehicles.
The executive was chairman of the board of the Al Watany Bank of Egypt and is a member of the board of the International Bank of Qatar, managed by the NBK, which has a 30% share of the Qatari institution. In the list of 100 most influential Arab women published by magazine Arabian Business, from Dubai, she is in the eighth place.
The second best placed Arab in the Forbes ranking is the minister of Trade of the United Arab Emirates, Lubna Al Qasimi, aged 53. According to the magazine, she was the first female minister in the country, in 2004, at the time becoming responsible for the Ministry of Economy. This year, according to the publication, the minister has been promoting the strengthening of exports of the Emirates to other markets in the region.
In the Arabian Business list, Qasimi was in the first rank for the second year running.
In the 100th place in the Forbes ranking is Mayassa Al Thani, 29, daughter of Qatari Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani. Ms. Al Thani manages the agency responsible for museums in the country and, according to the magazine, controls an annual budget for acquisition of works of art estimated at US$ 250 million. Last year, she spent practically the entire amount for picture “The Card Players”, by French painter Paul Cezanne, breaking the record for the highest value ever paid for a picture.
Forbes evaluates that Mayassa is possibly currently the most powerful woman in the world of arts. In the Arabian Business list, however, she does not even figure.
Among the Brazilian women are presidente Dilma Rousseff, 64, in the third position in the American magazine’s ranking for the second time running, behind the German Angela Merkel, 58, and the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, also aged 64.
Still from Brazil, the US magazine’s list includes the president of oil company Petrobras, Maria das Graças Foster, 58, in 20th place, and model Gisele Bundchen, aged 32, in 83rd.
*Translated by Mark Ament
