Dubai: The Dubai Chamber unveiled a new business award— Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award — that will recognise businesses for their contribution to the local economy.
The award features four new categories: Outstanding Business Award presented by Dubai Chambers, the Family Business Award presented by Dubai Chamber of Commerce, the Global Expansion Award presented by Dubai International Chamber, and the Digital Innovation Award presented by Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy.
“The idea of the award comes as Dubai embarks on a new economic strategy, D33, that aims to double the size of the Dubai economy over the next decade,” said Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chairman, Dubai Chambers.
“We have merged all our previous business awards into this new award, to ensure it is in sync with the new business era we are stepping into.
“The award will not only be open to local companies but also to international companies with significant presence in the emirate.”
The new award is the result of the merger of two of Dubai's most prominent awards for business excellence: the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award, and the Dubai Quality Award.
Timeline for the Award
- Nominations for the award have already opened
- October 2023: Registration for workshops and applicants’ workshop
- December 2023: Submission phase
- March 2024: Submission review; and assessment and site visits
- April-June 2024: Winners’ selection and award ceremony; and feedback reports and action plan workshop
The evaluation process examines areas including leadership, strategy, workforce management, ESG, and digital transformation, in addition to financial performance. Participating companies must achieve a minimum number of points from the award assessors across a detailed range of criteria in order to secure a place among the finalists in each category.
When asked if companies need to be of a particular size or scale to be eligible for the award, Al Ghurair said: “Size doesn’t matter. You can be a 50-people startup who has just had a breakthrough. Or you could be one of the biggest companies. The award is based on innovation and results."
Al Ghurair also stressed on the importance of family business in the emirate, and elaborated on how the award will encourage such businesses while also imparting them with necessary training to pass on the baton.
“Family-owned business have formed the backbone of the emirate for many years now. While we have several Emirati family businesses running for decades, we also have several businesses set up by expats, which have been in operation for over two generations now. There’s certainly something that Dubai must be doing right to attract these businesses. We now want to take this to the next stage,” he added.
What the new award plans to achieve:
- Support businesses to implement global best practices to boost growth and outperform competitors.
- Promote outstanding local and global performers in business excellence.
- Support growth of national companies to achieve sustainable results.
- Encourage international expansion of businesses.
- Enhance Dubai’s position as a global capital of the digital economy. Promoting the digital transformation of international companies and digital startups.
- Elevate Dubai’s reputation as a global business hub worldwide.
