Emirates Development Bank's Dubai branch. The government-owned bank offers competitive interest rates to businesses that are majority-owned by the UAE nationals. Courtesy EDB
Emirates Development Bank's Dubai branch. The government-owned bank offers competitive interest rates to businesses that are majority-owned by the UAE nationals. Courtesy EDB
Emirates Development Bank's Dubai branch. The government-owned bank offers competitive interest rates to businesses that are majority-owned by the UAE nationals. Courtesy EDB
Emirates Development Bank's Dubai branch. The government-owned bank offers competitive interest rates to businesses that are majority-owned by the UAE nationals. Courtesy EDB

Emirates Development Bank launches supply chain finance platform to help UAE businesses


Alkesh Sharma
  • English
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Emirates Development Bank launched a National Supply Chain Finance platform on Sunday to help the country’s businesses and SMEs gain easy access to the working capital amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The initiative, used by buyers, suppliers and banks, will automate operations, mitigate risk and make finance easily accessible, EDB said in a statement on Sunday.

Supported by the UAE Government, the platform is developed by the state-owned bank in collaboration with the World Bank's International Finance Corporation and London technology vendor HPD LendScape.

“With SME’s facing an unprecedented challenge, accessing efficient finance is vital … EDB is filling the gap and has launched a first class platform,” Faisal Aqil Al Bastaki, EDB’s chief executive, said.

“Lenders and buyers should take advantage of the solution offered to ensure that SMEs continue to play their part in the UAE’s economic growth, long after Covid-19 has passed.”

The platform will help suppliers gain quicker access to money owed, while buyers will get more time to pay off their invoices.

The initial phase of the project, offering a payables finance solution, went live on Sunday. The next phase will offer a comprehensive suite of buyer and supplier-centric solutions, including Islamic Finance products, EDB said, without specifying the exact time of its launch.

EDB, which allocated Dh423 million for SME finance last year, is supporting the local businesses that are majority-owned (51 per cent or more) by the UAE nationals.

With two operational branches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, it offers competitive interest rates and launched a Dh100m credit guarantee scheme for the SMEs in February last year.

The new facility supports the goals of the National Agenda under UAE Vision 2021, which focuses on boosting the contribution of SMEs to the country’s economy, with the aim of increasing it to 70 per cent of gross domestic product by next year.

The National Supply Chain Finance platform can adapt to different regulatory environments and local market requirements, allowing commercial banks to launch their own products and manage customised programmes, EDB said.

“Through an online portal accessible from any device, suppliers can interact with both buyers and funders in real time, can request finance with a click and all counter-parties enjoy personalised screens and increased visibility of accounts receivables in the supply chain,” it added.

EDB will also set up a new centre of excellence to provide expert support to local investors.

'The Batman'

Stars:Robert Pattinson

Director:Matt Reeves

Rating: 5/5

Greatest Royal Rumble match listing

50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias

Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match

WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura

Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe

United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos

Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt

Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev

Singles match John Cena v Triple H

Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Engine: 80 kWh four-wheel-drive

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 402bhp

Torque: 760Nm

Price: From Dh280,000

MATCH INFO

Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')

Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')

Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

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1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
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3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
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6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68

Company profile

Name: Dukkantek 

Started: January 2021 

Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani 

Based: UAE 

Number of employees: 140 

Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service) 

Investment: $5.2 million 

Funding stage: Seed round 

Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office  

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Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten

Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a  month before Reaching the Last Mile.

Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

 

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The specs

Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8

Power: 611bhp

Torque: 620Nm

Transmission: seven-speed automatic

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Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: seven-speed

Power: 720hp

Torque: 770Nm

Price: Dh1,100,000

On sale: now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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