The emirate’s image of brash, glitzy modernity dissolved into chaos when its rapid expansion turned the property developers’ dream into a nightmare, almost overnight. But five months on from when the government-owned Dubai World told banks it could not pay its debts – sending the debt-fuelled boom spiralling into the sand – female entrepreneurs and business women are beginning to get the beleaguered emirate back on its feet.

Last week, International Women’s Day saw some of the region’s most powerful women gathered at a major international conference to discuss Dubai’s problems.

“Things have been shaken up badly in the region,” said Laura Martorano, chief executive of property asset management firm Leo Sterling. “The mood in the region is very bleak. There is nobody who hasn’t been affected, it is a real crisis. [Read More]