Dubai: Dubai SME, the agency of Dubai Economy mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, announced on Saturday that it has received 456 entries for the 10th Mohammad Bin Rashid Award for Young Business Leaders. Of those, 251 are from the UAE while 78 entries and 127 nominated supporters are from the Arab world.
The award recognises exceptional and innovative projects in UAE and the Arab world by young entrepreneurs.
Of these, 76 businesses by Emirati entrepreneurs and 47 by other Arab entrepreneurs have qualified for the second round. In all, the shortlisted Emirati businesses have a combined revenue of Dh963 million, generated Dh180 million in profit and created over 4,000 jobs. Businesses from the Arab world that qualified for the second round generated a combined annual revenue of Dh230 million, and secured profits of Dh26 million while creating 1,400 jobs.
The number of supporters from the Arab World was 39. In the three years of the Award, the supporters that qualified for the final stage extended support to nearly 195 SMEs, helping create around 240, 000 jobs and facilitating a combined financial support to these SMEs of Dh4m.
A first-of-its-kind in the region, the award highlights the importance of entrepreneurship and Dubai’s efforts to support the SME sector in addition to showcasing the capabilities and potential of SMEs in the UAE to regional and global investors.
“The Mohammad Bin Rashid Award for Young Business Leaders is aligned with Dubai’s vision to promote investment in human capital, and with the Dubai Plan 2021 to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among youth by providing a supportive environment,” said Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of Dubai SME. “It serves as a major platform to promote creativity and innovation, and in enabling our young entrepreneurs to participate actively in the journey of Dubai and the UAE towards sustainable development and to secure the goals of the UAE Centennial 2071 Plan.”
The Award categories include: Trading, Manufacturing, Services, Home-based Business in Dubai (Intelaq), Innovation, Corporate Social Responsibility, the best SME owned and run by Entrepreneurs of Determination, and the Entrepreneurial Personality of the Year (male and female).
The Awards are evaluated based on several factors such as performance measurement indicators, creativity and innovation, as well as corporate excellence and corporate social responsibility. The winners will be announced on 8th of January 2018.
To be eligible for Mohammad Bin Rashid Award for Young Business Leaders, the business should be 100 per cent owned and run by nationals of the country of origin and meet the official definition of SMEs in UAE.
The Award welcomes different types of businesses including home-based businesses in Dubai (Intelaq) with businesses of up to three years qualifying as start-up enterprises and those over three years falling under the Established Business category.
