Industrial business incubators play key role in economic growth

Abdullah Al Muwaiji, Chairman of the Ajman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, reiterated the importance of business incubators in accelerating the pace of economic growth in general and the industrial in particular, as well as their role in providing appropriate support for entrepreneurs. They offer a set of benefits and components that support creative projects and successful ideas, he added.

This came during a panel discussion organised by the Ajman Chamber under the title (Industrial Business Incubators) in the presence of Salem Al Suwaidi, Director General, the executive managers and all employees of the Chamber.

Opening the session, Al Muwaiji affirmed that the Ajman Chamber spares no effort in providing appropriate support and directing entrepreneurs in cooperation with its strategic partners.

He pointed out that the Chamber is keen to organise a variety of panel discussions on the industrial sector with a view to monitoring opinions and proposals that feed into enhancing its role in beefing up the growth of the sector and its contribution to the emirate’s GDP. The Chamber further directs entrepreneurs towards investing in industrial activities and benefiting from the various available ingredients and opportunities, Al Muwaiji said.

He praised the business incubators provided by the UAE for their major role in encouraging entrepreneurs to access the industrial sector and guaranteeing the success of their industrial projects.

The session presented an overview of the national strategy for industry and advanced technology, which aims to raise the contribution of the industrial sector to Dhs300 b by 2031. It also highlighted the sectors that the strategy focuses on in the next phase, including “space industries, advanced technological industries, medical and pharmaceutical industries, clean and renewable energy-related industries (hydrogen production), machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, rubber and plastics products, electronic and electrical appliances, food and beverage products.”

It further defined business incubator as a tool that provides a supportive environment for projects and creative ideas, which are incubated and strengthened with integrated mechanisms to ensure their success. Its inputs are represented by young creative people and funding and supporting entities, while the outputs are represented in achieving projects of creative and non-traditional economic, technological and cultural feasibility.

There are different types of incubators. The industrial incubators are specialised in attracting light industrial engineering projects or those with distinguished professional skills in order to serve the local markets in the first place. The technological incubators are the cornerstone in the field of future research and technology marketing.

The service incubators provide industrial services to large industries.

The session also pointed to business incubators in the most prominent countries in the number of incubators, led by the USA and China.

The attendees were also briefed on the business incubators in the UAE and the supportive environment they provide for entrepreneurs.

The panel discussion dealt with the country’s efforts to provide supportive financing solutions, on top of which is the Emirates Development Bank’s strategy, with a financing portfolio of Dhs30 b. It aims to provide supportive financing solutions for SMEs in order to boost the national economy and create new job opportunities.

During the session, the Saudi Arabia’s experience with industrial business incubators was discussed, their objectives and mechanism of work.

For their part, the attendees stressed the importance of the availability of studies and statistics that help select appropriate ideas and projects. They further asserted the importance of business incubators and their role in guaranteeing the success of ideas and projects in a large scale.

The session also stressed the importance of partnership and cooperation between the parties concerned with economic affairs locally and federally to provide the appropriate support for entrepreneurs.

The Ajman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has distributed the “Entrepreneurs Directory” to the entrepreneurs and to a number of government and private bodies in Ajman.

The bilingual (Arabic-English) directory comes to highlight the pioneering enterprises and to promote them locally through participation in the specialised exhibitions inside and outside the country.

Mohammad Ali Al Janahi, Executive Director of Promotion and Investment Division-ACCI, stressed the importance of the directory and its role in highlighting the pioneering enterprises in the emirate and shedding light on the most attracting fields to entrepreneurs.