Boeing has partnered with Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and non-profit Injaz UAE to offer seed funding and training to entrepreneurs, as part of efforts to boost Emirati employment in the private sector.
The Start-up Bridge Program is a three-year initiative that will grant Dh25,000 in seed money to each selected group of would-be entrepreneurs, and will provide mentorship over a period of four to six months. Upon completion of the programme, Tejar Dubai, a Dubai Chamber initiative, will pick five projects to deploy each year, offering support through incubation and investment opportunities.
“Our universities keep on graduating hundreds and thousands of students every year, and the public and the government sector will not be able to absorb that. And in the private sector, the nationalisation process actually is in limbo,” said Hisham Al Shirawi, second vice chairman at DCCI.
"We have to encourage our youth to enter into business and we want to focus on UAE nationals, because this is the only place where they have any support, while students with other nationalities have places where they have other opportunities as well." The chamber wants to encourage entrepreneurs as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up 95 per cent of businesses in Dubai, contributing to 40 per cent of GDP and 42 per cent of the workforce, he said.
“Governments can’t do everything,” said Bernard Dunn, the president of Boeing Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. “The key to an economy anywhere in the world is a vibrant private sector. Governments have their limitations.”
dalsaadi@thenational.ae
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