According to Rajaa al-Qarq, the president of the Dubai Businesswomen Council, the number of businesswomen in UAE has reached 14,000 including 3800 businesswomen in Abu Dhabi and 4,000 in Dubai. The total amount of their investments has reached $12.4 billion.

Al-Qarq said that there are 45,000 businesswomen in the six Gulf countries but that many of them prefer to operate from the UAE because of "the excellent environment" [meaning greater freedom for women than say, in Saudi Arabia] and because of the developed infrastructure.

Source: Al-Bayan, UAE, February 26, 2011