Companies in the service and technology sectors dominate the shortlist for this year’s Gulf Capital SME Awards, which were announced yesterday.
Three of the seven firms in the shortlist for the main Gulf Capital Business of the Year Award – CommIT, German Imaging Technologies (GIT) Dubai, Intelligent Business Technologies (IBT) – operate within the IT sector.
SweetBeam, Dabo & Co, Skipper t&d JLT and The Box Self Storage Service make up the remainder of the shortlist for the Business of the Year award, won last year by Just Falafel.
“It is great to be nominated again,” said Jai Mulani, the chief executive of IBT, an IT services company that was shortlisted last year but was pipped to the award by the popular diner Just Falafel. “We hope that this year will be our year.”
The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony held at the Ritz Carlton JBR in Dubai on October 29.
Sheikh Khalifa, President of the UAE, approved a federal law for SMEs in April aimed at boosting growth in the sector.
Included in the new law is a requirement for federal authorities and ministries to contract at least 10 per cent of their procurement budget for purchasing, servicing and consulting to SMEs.
The UAE’s Minister of Economy, Sultan Al Mansouri, said in April that he hoped the contribution of the sector to the non-oil economy would rise to 70 per cent by 2020, from its current level of 60 per cent. “This is the strongest performance we have seen from technology-focused and service-orientated SMEs in the three-year history of the awards, and it is a great indication that the UAE is proving to be a vibrant breeding ground for nurturing small businesses and entrepreneurs in these sectors,” said Becky Crayman, head of awards at Meed.
Other awards to be handed out on the night include Emirati Business of the Year, MasterCard Small Business of the Year, Online Business of the Year and Sustainable Business of the Year.
The number of entrants in this year’s competition was up 6 per cent on last year, according to the organisers.
Especially noteworthy was the increase in entrants for the Emirati Business of the Year, amid broadening support for local SMEs from government entities.
The seven companies shortlisted for Emirati Business of the Year are Ajyaal Media, Al Wegdaniyah Transport Solutions, Cafe2Go, Centre for Musical Arts (the winner of last year’s award), Corporate Business Services and Wrapt.
The financial support and expertise offered to new businesses by such initiatives has been crucial for many Emirati-owned companies, according to Abdulla Al Nuami, the owner of Ayjaal Media, a company specialising in the provision of media content for children, which has received support from Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Fund.
“It’s given us a real boost both in terms of financial aid and general business support, which you need when you’re opening a new business,” he said.
“It’s like launching a new rocket, in that there’s a huge boost needed in the initial stages to get yourself off the ground.”
jeverington@thenational.ae
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