Dubai: Dubai SME, an agency of the Department for Economic Development (DED) in Dubai is looking to increase awareness on Intellectual Property and fund-raising for the SME sector.

Last week, Dubai SMEs has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the international law firm, Taylor Wessing, to raise awareness and deliver the right knowledge to Dubai SME100 about the Intellectual Property management and fund-raising in capital markets.

Intellectual Property management and fund-raising are complex subjects, which the Dubai SME100 have indicated they would like to be educated about, particularly around legal due diligence, corporate governance and the regulatory requirements locally and internationally.

Under the terms of the MoU, Taylor Wessing will organise joint seminars with Dubai SME on intellectual property and IPOs on Nasdaq Dubai as well as offer one-on-one advisory sessions to interested SMEs.

These sessions are expected to provide a high level of understanding to Dubai SME as well as provide the information need to bridge the gaps in the market.

Abdul Baset Al Janahi, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai SME said that the ongoing growth in the Dubai and UAE economy together with the emerging opportunities and trends demand in the market has strengthened the SME understanding about the intellectual property.

Opportunity

“With respect to access to finance, our top SMEs should also explore the possibility of raising funds in the capital markets, not just through private equity or bank financing. We have the trading platform through Nasdaq Dubai, and our growth SMEs should tap this opportunity to raise new financing streams and build global brands though IPOs,” he added.

This will also help Dubai to be a destination to raise equity capital for good quality SME businesses, Al Janahi added.

Ben Constance, Partner of Taylor Wessing’s Dubai office said: “Taylor Wessing is very pleased to be in partnership with Dubai SME. Collaborating with the SMEs in Dubai is an exciting project for us. The SME sector in Dubai is clearly a thriving and dynamic segment of the economy and one, as a professional advisory firm, we interact with regularly. We hope that offering international standard advice to SMEs will help SME100 companies to develop further and attract funding to take them to the next stage of their growth cycle.”