São Paulo – Small and medium businesses account for 40% of Dubai’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as per an estimate released by the CEO of the Dubai Investment Development agency (Dubai FDI), Fahad Al Gergawi.
“It is estimated that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contribute 40 percent to Dubai’s GDP and employ 42 percent of the total workforce,” the CEO was quoted by the UAE’s state-run news outlet Emirates News Agency as saying.
Gergawi said the “significance of such enterprises must not be overlooked as they are responsible for substantial employment and income generation opportunities across the world, thus playing a major role in poverty alleviation, socio-economic and sustainable development.”
The CEO asserted that the UAE and Dubai governments are working to transform the country’s business ecosystem by enhancing the ease of doing business, supporting new sectors and further developing SMEs.
Established in 2002, Dubai SME is an arm of the Department of Economic Development in Dubai designed to foster development of SMEs. Dubai SME has since created a Business Village, comprising its headquarters and facilities for companies to have meetings in.
Dubai SME also holds an annual contest for high school and university students, in a bid to foster entrepreneurship and new businesses, as well as a prize for young leading entrepreneurs, among other actions. The emirate also boasts a business accelerator, and measures are in place to make life easier for startups.
Last March, Gulf News reported that in 2017, SMEs in the UAE got USD 408 million worth of government contracts, USD 131 million of which concerned contracts with the Dubai government.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
