Inaugural ADNOC Women’s Network Forum Focuses on Advancing Role of Women in Oil and Gas Industries
Abu Dhabi, UAE – April 26, 2017: The UAE-Japan Friendship Committee for Women Career Development, which supports the empowerment of women in the oil and gas industry, has held its 5th meeting in Abu Dhabi, concluding with the inaugural ADNOC Women’s Network Forum.
The ADNOC Women’s Network Forum has been established by the ADNOC Women’s Committee to advance the role of women within ADNOC and the UAE’s energy sector, as part of ADNOC’s commitment, in its 2030 strategy, to building a world class workforce, that harnesses the skills of the nation’s talent pipeline, both women and men.
Among those attending the ADNOC Women’s Network Forum, entitled ‘Harnessing the Power of People and Technology for Empowerment’, were H.E. Dr Maitha Salem Al Shamsi, UAE Minister of State, H.E. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO and H.E. Kanji Fujiki, Japan’s Ambassador to the UAE. Other attendees included Tsuyoshi Nakai, CEO of Japan Cooperation Center, Petroleum (JCCP), Ali Khalifa Al Shamsi, CEO of Al Yasat Petroleum Operations and Fatema Al Neaimi, Manager, Gas Strategy and Master Planning Unit ADNOC and Chairwoman of the ADNOC Women’s Committee.
H.E. Dr Al Shamsi said: “The UAE-Japan Friendship Committee for Women Career Development and the ADNOC Women’s Network Forum share the strategic objective of empowering women and enhancing their role in the energy sector, in line with the UAE leadership’s vision to promote the status of women and their status in the nation’s economic development.
“The greater involvement of women in the oil and gas industries recognizes the pivotal role they can play in ensuring the future resilience of the sector. Without greater gender diversity, companies will miss out on the diverse thinking and insights women bring and which are needed to capitalize on future opportunities and the drivers of growth.”
H.E. Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and CEO of ADNOC said “in line with the wise vision of our leadership and encouragement and support of Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the UAE women have achieved remarkable progress and are making crucial contributions to the UAE’s sustainable development in all fields .Guided by this vision ADNOC is undertaking a number of initiatives to empower women in oil and gas sector which come in line with its focus on people, performance, profitability and efficiency. We are confident that empowering women will be a successful investment in line with our strategy for human resources development."
Tsuyoshi Nakai, CEO of JCCP, thanked H.E. Dr. Al Shamsi, H.E. Dr. Al Jaber, and Ali Khalifa Al Shamsi, for their support of both the UAE-Japan Friendship Committee for Women Career Development and the ADNOC Women’s Network Forum and praised the UAE’s focus on making the oil and gas industries more attractive to women.
“I am very impressed by the recent advancement of women’s leadership and empowerment in UAE, especially the fact that the development of women’s capabilities, in the petroleum sectors, has been further embodied both in UAE and Japan. I am pleased also the petro-ladies’ network between our two countries has been expanded. I hope the new network will lead to a deeper relationship between UAE and Japan,” he said.
H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, GWU, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, FDF, and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood is the honorary chair of the committee.
In its conference sessions, held at ADNOC HQ, the UAE-Japan Friendship Committee for Women Career Development focused on initiatives and training programmes for women in the oil and gas industries. Three workshops on Empowering Women in Management, Designing a Career Path and Achieving Life/Work Balance were held. The outcomes of the workshops were presented to the ADNOC Women’s Network Forum.
While in Abu Dhabi, committee members visited ADNOC’s HQ, where they were briefed on the company’s 2030 Strategy which seeks to deliver a more valuable upstream, more profitable downstream and a reliable and economic supply of gas. They also toured Masdar City, where they were given an overview of Women in Sustainability, Environment and Renewable Energy (WiSER).
