Three women lead the way in business expertise

ABU DHABI // When Fatima al Baloshi looks at her salad, she not only sees a business model but a way she can beat the fast food restaurants at their own game. Yesterday, she took another step towards realising her dream when she was one of three winners of the Akoun Entrepreneurship Awareness Campaign. Ms al Baloshi's business, which won the Al Ain segment, was to market and supply fresh vegetables to children, first in Al Ain and then across the UAE.

She believed children ate too much fast food and she wanted to use the fast food chains' marketing and sales tactics to sell healthy food to youngsters. The next step for her and for the other two winners was to apply for funding from the Khalifa Fund to put their business plans into action. Hanaa Jaafar al Moosawi, who won the Abu Dhabi section, said she was looking forward to making her goal of marketing local food - including a traditional Emirati breakfast - a reality while Noora Ali Mohamed Ali al Mansoori believed she had struck gold with her idea to build traditional houses for tourists to learn about the region's culture and heritage, which won in the Western Region.

Over the past seven months, the Akoun team visited universities across Abu Dhabi. The three winners received Dh10,000. eharnan@thenational.ae