The competitive nature of Dubai's business scene may pose a challenge for budding entrepreneurs, but the emirate's dedication to nurturing businesses supported by its advanced digital transformation push can help them reap rewarding results, the president and chief executive of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.
Hamad Buamim called on entrepreneurs to continuously reinvent themselves in the age of the new economy powered by emerging technologies and come up with innovative solutions to address economic demands not only for the UAE, but also for the region and the world.
Dubai is not easy. There's quite a lot of competition being an open city and this creates challenging yet very rewarding entrepreneur journeys
Hamad Buamim,
president and chief executive of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Collaboration between the private and public sectors, alongside the work of multinationals, corporates and small and medium-sized enterprises, will create an inclusive ecosystem that in turn will attract more entrepreneurs to the city and the nation, he added.
“Dubai is not easy. There's quite a lot of competition being an open city and this creates challenging yet very rewarding entrepreneur journeys,” Mr Buamim said at the opening of the TiE Global Summit at Expo 2020's Dubai Exhibition Centre on Wednesday.
“We have been planting the seeds many years ago so it can become the next Silicon Valley of this region at least … and now it is the regional home of thriving start-ups.”
Dubai's economic strength, spurred by government initiatives and the resilience of the business sector, has been reflected in global indexes. The emirate recently ranked among the top 35 cities in the world when it comes to attracting venture capital and the funding of start-ups, the first Innovation in Business Index from the Netherlands-based financial platform Finom showed.
Last month, the Dubai Innovation Index, a report developed by the Dubai Chamber and PricewaterhouseCoopers, revealed that the emirate last year led the Arab world in innovation and was positioned 20th globally. It ranked ahead of global cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Sao Paulo, scoring high in the areas of infrastructure, government and society.
The upwards trajectory in Dubai's economic expansion is also mirrored in the Dubai Chamber’s membership, which welcomed about 16,000 new businesses in the first nine months of 2021, an increase of 5.8 per cent, pushing its total membership to 275,000.
Existing regional start-ups made the strategic decision to move and relocate to Dubai to fuel their growth at the earliest stages, Mr Buamim said. Being at the centre of the Middle East, Africa and South-East Asia, the emirate is a gateway to serve a population numbering in the billions, among which are some of the youngest and brightest minds.
“Dubai is known for its diverse and maturing ecosystem in this economy, whether it's incubators or accelerators. It also has very vibrant, smart and advanced government services that support the business community,” he added.
Success stories such as ride-hailing service Careem and e-commerce platforms Souq.com and Noon.com are among the home-grown start-ups that Mr Buamim cited as a blueprint for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Feedback from more than 12,000 entrepreneurs that have gone through Dubai Chamber programmes revealed that they have come out more resilient, Mr Buamim said, and they will continue supporting businesses and aid economic growth.
Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Emaar Properties and e-commerce platform Noon.com, said Dubai's business scene has cultivated a no-fear culture, inspiring entrepreneurs to push themselves further to progress not only for personal success but also for the wider benefit to society.
“If you are not able to dream, you'll never do it. The pandemic taught us that we will never stop and we will never close,” he said.
Mr Alabbar also challenged entrepreneurs — those who have enjoyed success and who are in a position to have this emulated by others — by giving back.
“You have a duty besides having the money and success; what are you doing about it? Are we delivering? Are we paying back?”
In June, Dubai's Chamber of Commerce was restructured and split into three separate entities: the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy and Dubai International Chamber. They will be responsible for boosting international trade, advancing the digital economy and protecting the interests of entrepreneurs and business owners.
The TiE Global Summit, which runs until Thursday, aims to foster entrepreneurship through mentoring, networking, education, funding and incubation, with a focus on giving back to the community and nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs.
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
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Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
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Story of 2017-18 so far and schedule to come
Roll of Honour
Who has won what so far in the West Asia rugby season?
Western Clubs Champions League
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons
Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership Cup
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Dubai Exiles
Fixtures
Friday
West Asia Cup final
5pm, Bahrain (6pm UAE time), Bahrain v Dubai Exiles
West Asia Trophy final
3pm, The Sevens, Dubai Hurricanes v Dubai Sports City Eagles
Friday, April 13
UAE Premiership final
5pm, Al Ain, Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
