Dubai: The UAE’s Ministry of Economy launched a new vision for the National Programme for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on Wednesday, aimed at providing entrepreneurs and SME owners with several new and integrated initiatives and services. These include the Government Procurement Program, the Business Support Program, and the Financing Solutions Program.
During a media briefing on Wednesday, Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said the UAE placed absolute faith on entrepreneurs, and recognised the importance of entrepreneurship as a major driver for building the future economy and achieving more flexibility, sustainability and innovation in the national economy.
The minister noted that the National Programme for SMEs has so far formed more than 25 partnerships with leading institutions in the public and private sectors. He pointed out that SMEs today represent 94 per cent of the total companies and institutions operating in the country and contribute more than 50 per cent to the country’s GDP.
“Through the new programs and initiatives that we are announcing today, we look forward to achieving further progress in the country’s entrepreneurship system by providing integrated services to UAE national entrepreneurs, serving their business growth and enhancing their market share.”
Discussing the new procurement programme, the minister said the Ministry of Economy has renewed its partnership with the Ministry of Finance to enable Emirati entrepreneurs to register on the Federal Procurement Platform in a more efficient and seamless manner. The programme will allocate special workshops on the platform to enable member entrepreneurs to access information about procurement and contracts available in the federal government.
The programme will also work in close coordination with the Ministry of Education, the Emirates Foundation for Health Services, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.
EDB’s Dh100m drive to support SMEs
The Emirates Development Bank (EDB) has announced the launch of Sanad, a post-COVID acceleration initiative to support SMEs in the UAE and accelerate their post-COVID economic growth. The new Dh100 million initiative aims to extend quick, easy-to-access, and flexible loans to Emirati-owned and managed businesses looking to accelerate the growth of their businesses post the pandemic.
Announcing the initiative, Ahmed Mohamed Al Naqbi, CEO of EDB, said: “The launch of Sanad is in line with the UAE’s leadership vision to boost the SME ecosystem and help the overall economic acceleration post-COVID. Our new Dh100 million initiative offers flexible liquidity support to Emirati-owned and managed SMEs with a growth outlook post the pandemic.”
