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Shaikha Fatima Pearl Award announced

ABU DHABI — To promote the business of pearls in the UAE, a gala event of pearls exhibition and Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak International Award for Pearls was launched at the Emirates Palace Hotel in the capital on Friday.

The event was organised as part of the activities of the Universal Forum of Pearls.

Speaking on the occasion, Khalid Al Sayegh, chairman of the Pearl Revival Committee, said the forum named the award after Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Nahyan, Supreme Chairperson of the Family Development Foundation, head of the UAE General Women’s Federation and honorary president of the UAE Businesswomen’s Council, as a token of appreciation for her vital role in promoting the traditions of the country, focusing on the citizens of the UAE in general and women in particular.

“This initiative is to revive pearl trade promoted by our ancestors in the region.

“At present, the value of cultivated pearls is approximately $1.5 billion, while the coloured pearls form around 50 per cent of it,” he said.

The Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the UAE had given priority to pearl business in the UAE, Al Sayegh added.

Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, Assistant Under-secretary for the Sector of Culture and Heritage at the Ministry of Information of Bahrain and honorary member of the Pearl Revival Committee, was the chief guest.