The UAE’s Ministry of Economy has successfully launched a new electronic platform to help serve the country's National Program for Small and Medium Enterprises and projects, the executive arm of the SME's Council.

The platform is among the initiatives launched by the Ministry as part of its celebration of the UAE Innovation Month 2018, and also falls in line with the continuing efforts to support Emirati entrepreneurs and enhancing their roles and recognising the contributions made by the SME segment in the overall development of the UAE, said a statement.

Eng Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy, who launched the programme, pointed out that the platform will serve as a gateway for UAE pioneers and entrepreneurs in their continuing journey towards achieving a brighter future, which also includes their goals, ideas and creations that can result in future innovations, it said.

In his speech, Al Mansoori also stated that this platform will play a key role in the move to establish a comprehensive database of highly eligible national projects, which in turn, can help provide the best, world-class services in the quickest and most efficient manner, it added.

The UAE Minister explained that being registered into the National Program for SMEs and projects will allow members to tap into newer markets; reach out to potential partners coming from federal and local government institutes and the private sector and create marketing opportunities for their products. The new platform is expected to help enhance the UAE's reputation as an ideal investment destination and help encourage a culture of research, creativity and competitiveness.

In terms of local strategic partners, Al Mansoori noted that the new platform will seamlessly connect members of the National Program across federal government institutions, where they will be given priority in obtaining government tenders and taught more about best practices in procurement systems.

He further explained that the National Program for SMEs and projects has organised several foreign participations for local entrepreneurs during the past period and is working in close coordination with relevant authorities to hold awareness workshops and training courses that have been designed to encourage the creation of these initiatives while also introducing available investment opportunities.

Al Mansoori continued: “We have not forgotten the sister leaders who have played a prominent role in the success of our initiatives and partnerships, where the proportion of female entrepreneurs participating in foreign exhibition has grown to 25 per cent, and the number of female participation across our training events have risen to 65 per cent - reflecting our strong desire for entrepreneurs to be part of new economic sectors.”

According to the minister, the platform will soon be announcing several new initiatives in cooperation with the members of the SME Council. These new programmes have been developed with the aim to provide financial and non-financial services to the members of the programme and will also focus on enabling them to provide all the essential information and services needed for their business development needs.

The launch of the new electronic platform was held at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in the presence of Eng Mohammed Bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi, undersecretary of Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Economy; Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Ministry’s undersecretary Foreign Trade Affairs; Humaid Mohamed Bin Salem, secretary general of the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry, along with a number of officials from the ministry, and federal and local authorities, as well as a group of local entrepreneurs and representatives from the private sector, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service