Zehra has over a decade of work experience in economicdevelopment and investment promotion, and she has been workingas the Head of Investment Promotion Services at OCO Global inthe United Arab Emirates since early 2021, where she is part of theMENA leadership team, focused on FDI promotion and economicdevelopment across various traditional and emerging industrialsectors across Financial Services, ICT, Fashion, Retail, Real Estate,Infrastructure, Chemicals, Aerospace, and Industrial Manufacturing.

Zehra has been in the UAE for over 12 years and possesses overan extensive network of strategic partners and clients both in theprivate and public sector. She has extensive work experience acrossEuropean markets and the Middle East, and she is culturally awareand specialises in nurturing the trade relationship between bothregions.

She gained valuable work experience in senior positions with leadingprivate and government sector organizations and advised large tradeand development agencies, supporting these with their foreign directinvestment (FDI) efforts. As a Regional Director for the Bahrain Economic DevelopmentBoard, she was responsible to represent the entity in the UAE andshe specialized mainly in the ICT and Financial Services sector,and she has a strong and existing network in these and other highgrowth industry sectors.

During her employment at OCO Globalshe has supported various Investment Promotion Agencies with aglobal representation and lead generation strategy. Clients includeRas Al Khaimah Economic Zone, Invest Mecklenburg Vorpommern,Northern Corridor Economic Region, Apex Brazil, Carribean Exportand others.