The Ministry of Economy launched a new vision for the National Programme for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), aimed at providing entrepreneurs and SME-owners in the UAE with several new and integrated initiatives and services. The new set of services are designed to provide national businesses with more growth possibilities and improved market access.

During a media briefing held on Wednesday, Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, announced the launch of various initiatives which comes as part of the three main programs presented by the National Programme under a new platform. This further reflects changes in the services provided to citizen entrepreneurs  to support them in developing their projects, thereby enabling them to increase their contribution to the country’s economic diversification efforts and growth in line with the goals of the ‘Projects of the 50.’ These programs include the Government Procurement Program, the Business Support Program, and the Financing Solutions Program.

Al Falasi noted that the National Programme for SMEs has so far formed more than 25 partnerships with leading institutions in the public and private sectors, which have been contributing to the development of initiatives and services under the three programs.

Al Falasi said: “The announcement of the new programs and services under the National Programme for SMEs is in line with our wise leadership’s vision, which places the citizen first, second and third in our developmental priorities. It places absolute faith on entrepreneurs, and recognises the importance of entrepreneurship as a major driver for building the future economy and achieving more flexibility, sustainability and innovation in the national economy in accordance with the principles and goals of the Projects of the 50. Our efforts to develop SMEs and support entrepreneurial projects led by Emirati youth will continue, by providing them with all the facilities and necessary tools to achieve commercial success, business continuity and growth. 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.

He said: “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.” He added that the National Programme for SMEs under the Ministry of Economy is keen to consolidate its role in supporting Emirati entrepreneurs as a major platform for these business owners to avail it’s the advanced services.

Al Falasi clarified that the new services represent a continuation and expansion of the National SME Program’s efforts during the last phase, and that a dedicated team within the ministry cooperated with various partners and communicated with citizen entrepreneurs to better understand their needs and challenges, and then later developed a new vision which integrates the services, incentives, initiatives and partnerships in order to provide services that consider future needs and keep pace with the ambitions of entrepreneurs.

With regard to the new Government Procurement Program, Al Falasi explained that the Ministry of Economy 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 National Programme, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, will allocate special workshops on the platform to enable member entrepreneurs to access various information about procurement and contracts available in the Federal Government. The two parties will also form specific committees to look into any challenges facing Emirati entrepreneurs regarding the federal platform.

The Minister further noted that the National programme at the initial stage will coordinate with the government procurement of three federal entities namely the Ministry of Education, the Emirates Foundation for Health Services, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. He emphasized that the goal of this stage is to put in place the appropriate processes to ensure the involvement of the federal procurement in serving the needs of citizen business owners, and thereby expand the scope of the initiative to ensure success, achieve the desired outcomes, and provide advanced services that include all ministries and target entities.

In addition, the Minister underlined that there is great interest from all concerned entities with the implementation of this initiative, in line with the directives of the wise leadership. “We also see a great demand from the private sector and national companies in the country to participate in this initiative and support it in a way that serves citizen entrepreneurs.”