Dubai SME members, including Emirati entrepreneurs and national companies in Dubai, won contracts worth Dh921.6 million ($251m) last year, a yearly increase of 3 per cent, as part of the Government Procurement Programme (GPP).
The procurement contracts were awarded by various local and federal government entities, semi-government bodies and private businesses, Dubai Media Office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Expo 2020 Dubai topped the list of local government support agencies of GPP last year with contracts amounting to Dh161.7m. It was followed by Roads and Transport Authority (Dh95.2m), Dubai Municipality (Dh44.2m), Dubai Health Authority (Dh36.5m) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dh24.5m).
The GPP initiative has provided exceptional opportunities for local entrepreneurs to demonstrate their success in turning innovative ideas into commercially viable projects in a range of sectors, said Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
“An increasing number of government and private sector entities are making important contributions to supporting the journey of entrepreneurs in Dubai,” he said.
Since 2002, GPP has enabled contracts worth more than Dh8.4 billion for Dubai SME members, from 69 entities across the government, semi-government and private sectors.
In the past 20 years, it has secured at least 16,934 procurement contracts for 362 Emirati companies in various sectors. The commercial sector accounted for 83 per cent of the contracts, while 13 per cent went to the companies in the professional sector and the remaining to industrial firms.
The GPP initiative required government entities and establishments in which the government holds 25 per cent or more equity to allocate 10 per cent of their purchasing to Emirati companies that are members of Dubai SME — one of the agencies of the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) in the emirate.
Dubai SME has evolved into a comprehensive ecosystem capable of supporting Dubai’s emergence as a centre for entrepreneurial innovation in technologies and industries of the future, Sheikh Hamdan said.
“Small and medium enterprises are among the most important drivers of economic and social development in any country as they have a major role in advancing human and material resources,” said Helal Al Marri, DET’s director general.
The SME sector represents more than 94 per cent of total UAE companies and employs more than 86 per cent of the private sector workforce, a Dubai Chamber report released in November 2020 showed.
Within Dubai, SMEs account for 95 per cent of companies and employ 42 per cent of the workforce, comprising 40 per cent of the emirate’s economy, the report added.
“The Government Procurement Programme is an opportunity for our small and medium enterprises that operate in more than 30 diverse sectors to develop and grow their business by supplying the needs of government-backed entities,” said Abdul Al Janahi, chief executive of Dubai SME.
“The programme has had a successful journey since its inception, enhancing SME capabilities and positioning these enterprises as major contributors to both Dubai and the UAE’s GDP [gross domestic product].”
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
WORLD CUP SQUAD
Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), Angelo Mathews, Avishka Fernando, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Jeevan Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep
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The Bio
Amal likes watching Japanese animation movies and Manga - her favourite is The Ancient Magus Bride
She is the eldest of 11 children, and has four brothers and six sisters.
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Virtual banks explained
What is a virtual bank?
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.
What’s the draw in Asia?
Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.
Is Hong Kong short of banks?
No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
