Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Monday attended the award-giving ceremony of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Size Enterprises (MBRE).
The ceremony was attended by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Establishment, Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al Ghurair, Speaker of Federal National Council, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Aviation Authority and Chairman of Emirates Group, Shaikh Majed Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, and a number of senior officials of Dubai Government.
Commenting on the Awards, Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO, Mohammad Bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Size Enterprises, said: About 9,000 young entrepreneurs have benefited from loans and facilities extended by the Establishment. Since it was founded in 2002, the Establishment has offered loans in tune of Dh 720 million.
As Al Ghurair, CEO of Mashreq Bank, a key support of the Establishment, said honouring of those young achievers is a reward for their innovation and talent they use to develop small businesses, which one day will grow to become a main sector for supporting the national economy.
"Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector is growing at 25 per cent a year. The sector has about 250,000 companies operating in various fields and attracting about 60 per cent of manpower in the country," he said.
Later, Shaikh Hamdan distributed awards to winners of the fifth edition. The event, which is organised in collaboration with Mashreq Bank, comes in line with the establishment's strategy of strengthening young business leaders and enabling them to lead international projects.
The SME Award is also part of a concerted strategy to support small and medium businesses in Dubai and provide entrepreneurs with adequate encouragement to grow and develop their businesses.
