Emirates, atout stratégique de Dubaï. Quelle est la compagnie aérienne assez florissante pour commander, en un mois, soixante-deux long-courriers gros-porteurs, pour un coût total de 20 milliards de dollars ?
La réponse n’est à chercher ni en Amérique ni en Europe, mais dans un petit émirat du golfe Arabo-Persique de deux millions d’habitants : Dubaï. Le 9 juin, au Salon de Berlin, la compagnie nationale, Emirates, achetait trente-deux avions A-380 — le dernier-né d’Airbus —, se hissant, du même coup, au rang de plus gros client du groupe. Business Rich List 2010. Arabian Business Power 500. The Future of Women Leaders in the Middle East. When Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi stepped into a role as head of IT strategy for transport services company Dubai Ports World, she was an anomaly in many ways.
She was an engineer working on a complex, technical initiative that required a great deal of interaction with the members of the C-suite; a local from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) working with a large number of expatriates; and a female executive in the male-dominated maritime industry. “I was the first senior woman coming on board, and it was a tough challenge,” she says. “I would have to explain to executives how I was going to deliver, and there was always a question: ‘How much can I rely on you?’”