The Opening Perspective The Power of Balance

Good morning, women in finance. Possibly the most important event of Abu Dhabi Finance Week. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I can't think of a better thing to do with my morning than to be here with you. and Abu Dhabi Finance Week is my absolute pleasure to contribute to your discussion on balance, inclusion, and leadership. Themes that in my view matter more than ever for the future of finance.

Balance is our topic, but I long for the day when we don't need to couple balance and diversity. But balance is more than a theme. It's an expression of where the world is moving. Balance is a measure of progress. Not balance as compromise or symmetry, but balance as a source of strength.

The balance between performance and trust, between economic ambition and social progress, and between individual leadership and shared leadership. These balances define whether institutions are resilient and whether growth is sustainable. The conversation about women in finance is not new. But the context is changing. Finance now more than ever sits at the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and human capital.

Global capital shapes energy transitions, supply chains, and the pace of innovation. In this environment, inclusion is not just an ethical choice. It is an economic advantage. A system that permits the exclusion of ch of talent has chosen to narrow its own possibilities and dilute its ambitions. I come to this discussion from the perspective of justice where the stakes are not only financial but also societal.

In the courtroom, confidence is built through clarity, fairness, and transparency. Those same qualities, the exact same qualities are essential in financial decisions. Whether you are allocating capital or resolving a dispute, the question is the same. Can people trust the process? Balanced decision making informed by different experiences and different methodologies strengthens that trust.

Inclusion becomes a form of discipline. It challenges assumptions, reveals blind spots, and improves outcomes. When leadership includes a range of voices, different skills, different approaches and different So I wait for the photographer to move for one second. Thank you. And different frames of mind, the quality of decisions improve dramatically.

Not because one perspective replaces another, but because no single perspective dominates. Diversity is not a demographic goal. It is a strategic advantage. It brings range to strategy, precision to risk, durability to outcomes. That makes inclusion the capability not a gesture.

Today's program reflects that capability in action. You will explore AI and inclusion and how technology can widen access instead of narrowing it. You will discuss entrepreneurship where policy and human capital combined to build opportunity from ideas. You will look at smart cities where investment shapes the infrastructure of daily life. You will consider green finance where sustainability and financial performance now move together.

And you will hear how financial literacy for women multiplies impact in families, in communities, and in national economies. Across all of this, the message is crystal clear. Women are not only participating in finance, they are directing and shaping its evolution. That is why balance matters. Not to correct the past but to prepare for the future.

A balanced institution is where merit is visible, where integrity is reinforced, and where leadership is shared intentionally. It is a place where talent is recognized wherever it emerges, and where excellence and representation move in the exact same direction. When inclusion is approached with intent, it builds confidence. And confidence is the engine of enduring growth. As we recognize women whose leadership has shaped finance in the region, and I mean incredible women who have shaped finance in this region, including her excellency Raja Al-Mazu, whom we honor today.

We are celebrating impact, perseverance, and example. We are celebrating leaders who have made progress possible for others not only for themselves. I will end with a simple reflection about balance. Balance is not a target. That's momentary.

Balance is a practice. A practice of listening, of sharing authority, of designing systems that reflect the societies they serve. A practice of seeing inclusion not as an accommodation but as design. And I think if that principle is observed, we just might encounter this that the power of balance is not at that it brings everyone to the center. It brings all of us forward.

On behalf of ADGM, thank you so much for being with us here in Abu Dhabi finance week. It matters and means a lot to us that you are here this week. I know you will have an amazing conversation ahead and I wish you all the very best. Thank you.