Sheikha Hind Bahwan receives French Legion of Honour Award

Muscat: Sheikha Hind Bahwan, a widely respected Omani entrepreneur and business person, received Chevalier de l’odre national de la legion d’honneur award from the Ambassador of France in Oman yesterday.
Renaud Salins, France’s Ambassador to the Sultanate, conferred the award upon Sheikha Hind Bahwan by decree of the President of the Republic of France.
The award, known as Legion of Honour, is the highest decoration granted by the French government. It was created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 to reward extra extraordinary accomplishment and outstanding services rendered to France.
Completely fluent in French, Sheikha Hind Bahwan initiated and is the Chairperson of the Omani French Friendship Association (OFA), a not-for-profit organisation that is focused on deepening bilateral trade, cultural and economic relations between the Sultanate and France.
“We are delighted to have Sheikha Hind Bahwan’s support and personal commitment in OFA. It is creating a valuable platform for French businesses to engage with the various Ministries and form partnerships with the local Oman business community,” the ambassador said.
In addition to her capacity as Chairperson of OFA, she founded and is the Chairperson of a global tech venture, Bahwan CyberTek & dt360, a 3,000+ member institution with a presence in the USA, MEA, India and Far East. In 2017 and 2018, Stanford Management School documented case studies on the evolution of Bahwan CyberTek & dt360. This is a unique honour for a business with Omani origins.
Sheikha Hind Bahwan is also involved in and has served on the Boards of a variety of public and private organisations. She is a Member of the Middle Centre Advisory Board of the London School of Economics, a Member of the Middle East Advisory Board of Coutts & Co., and a Board member of the Family Business Network (FBN) for GCC.
She had previously served as a Member on the Middle East Advisory Board of the Deutsche Bank and on the Board of Oman’s Public Authority for Social Insurance as well as chairing the Oman Chapter of Young President’s Organisation (YPO).
Sheikha Hind Bahwan is a recipient of many honours including Ernst & Young’s ‘Oman’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2000’, Arabian Business ‘e-Achiever of the Year’ award from H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rasheed in 2001, ‘IT Women of the Year 2002’ award by UNDP, ‘Global Leaders for Tomorrow’ award by the World Economic Forum in 2003, ‘Global Young Leader’ by the World Economic Forum in 2007 and ‘Woman of Power Award’ by Asian Business Leadership Forum in 2011.
Recently, she was recognised by Forbes as one of the most powerful women in the Arab world.