Young Arab entrepreneurs blaze a trail
dubai — Young entrepreneurs from the Middle East were honoured for their exceptional and innovative projects in the UAE and Arab world at the Mohammed bin Rashid Award for Young Business Leaders in Dubai on Monday.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation, and Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, chairman and chief executive of Emirates airline and Group, gave away the awards to winners at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Monday.
Young business leaders from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and other countries were awarded at the ceremony. The awards were categorised in gold and silver.
Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, chairman of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, was named the Best Business Supporter of the Year.
Entries received
According to Dubai SME, the 10th edition of the awards received 456 entries of which 251 are from the UAE while 78 entries and 127 nominated supporters are from the Arab world.
Of these, 76 businesses by Emirati entrepreneurs and 47 by other Arab entrepreneurs had qualified for the second round.
In all, 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.
Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of Dubai SME, said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Dubai are growing at a rate of five per cent, contributing 40 per cent to the emirate’s gross domestic product.
He said the rating systems launched by Dubai SME has received a good response from companies. “The response for the rating has been very good. The companies listed in the SME 100 have got their ratings. There are a number of big groups which have a lot of ancillaries or clients from SMEs that they give credit to and they needed something like this. We started rating SMEs to enable them to have more access to finance, government contracts and build credit trust in them,” said Al Janahi.
“We encouraged all SMES to register and get ratings because this will help them expand privileges from the government. When they sit with financers either for debt or equity, they will have a better description of their business and status,” Al Janahi told Khaleej Times during an interview on the sidelines of the awards ceremony.
— waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com