The UAE Ministry of Economy will invest in the development of small to medium-sized businesses across the emirates next year following a Federal Government request.
Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, said the ministry will be the federal authority responsible for developing SMEs in the UAE. He added that the Ministry was currently “exerting efforts to finalise the draft law” which will be presented to the cabinet in June 2010 for approval.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Al Mansouri said: “Our wise leadership is committed to strengthen the performance of the SMEs, which is a major contributor to the UAE’s GDP.
“There are many challenges facing SMEs in the UAE including lack of training, financing, high operation cost, labour considerations, absence of marketing network to promote national products and procedural obstacles.
“The ministry is working on tackling these challenges by developing SME projects all over the UAE. We will also work to facilitate procedures of registrations and financing, and to provide training programmes.”
The first UAE conference dedicated to SMEs was held in June 2009, which highlighted the government directives to develop the market’s performance, Al Mansouri said.
“The ministry has studied and evaluated the status of SMEs in order to identify the challenges and opportunities in this vital sector. The ministry also evaluated the experience of 28 countries in the fields of small and medium businesses.
“We are keen to coordinate efforts and exchange information with government departments in order to achieve best results and develop the performance of this vital sector,” he said.
Al Mansouri said the ministry was currently studying options to finance SME projects and that progress had already been made in negotiating with UAE banks to provide special facilities to support SME projects.
Follow us on
