Dubai: Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED), identified the top-performing 100 SMEs in a bid to help them grow bigger and support them through their growth.
At an event in Dubai on Sunday, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Foundation and President of the UAE National Olympic Committee, honoured owners and executives of small and medium businesses in the emirate that made it into the Dubai SME100 ranking in its third cycle.
Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of DED, said that small — and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contributed 47 per cent to the Dubai economy while the service sector contributed 41 per cent and manufacturing sector about 13 per cent, a top official said.
He said that mid-sized businesses contributed about 17 per cent to the economy while small enterprises contributed 14 per cent and micro-enterprises about eight per cent.
“Today, Dubai is increasingly becoming a launch-pad for SMEs in vital sectors such as health, education, information technology, logistics, tourism, hospitality and others due to its global reputation as an entrepreneurial hub,” he said.
He said that micro enterprises account for 72 per cent of the total business population in Dubai while small enterprises constitute 18 per cent and mid-sized businesses another five per cent.
The number of enrolments in the third cycle was 4,532, an increase of 49 per cent compared to 3,041 companies in the second cycle. Together, the companies enrolled in the third cycle represent net revenues of Dh69.5 billion a workforce of over 144,000.
Al Qamzi said that the service sector represents the lion’s share of registrations in the third session with 57 per cent while 34.5 per cent (1,565) are trading companies and company 8.4 per cent (382) are manufacturing firms.
Revenue growth
Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of Dubai SME, said that 88 companies among the top 100 in 2015 have achieved double-digit revenue growth over the last three years, compared to 81 such companies in the 2013 ranking and 53 in the 2011 cycle.
Companies that have achieved over 20 per cent growth in revenues and hence classified as high-growth have a strength of 69 among the top 100 in 2015, an increase of 28 per cent over the 54 such companies in the 2013 ranking, which in itself was a 32 per cent increase from 41 companies in 2011. Net profits of 78 companies in the 2015 list saw double-digit growth in the last three years compared to 71 companies in the 2013 list and 48 in 2011.
“Dubai SME has been evaluating the performance of 42 companies that participated in more than one cycle of the ranking and we saw that 98 per cent of them were able to achieve revenue growth of up to 33 per cent and up to 47 per cent growth in profits in the last three years. Their net sales grew from Dh1.36 billion to Dh2.15 billion, with an increase of 158 per cent, in the same period their profits increased 187 per cent, from of Dh134 million to Dh250 million,” Al Janahi said.
