UAE is making relentless efforts to encourage entrepreneurship: VP

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai said on Saturday that the UAE is making relentless efforts to encourage and enhance entrepreneurship at all levels, especially in higher education institutions, which prepare students to enter the job market.

Sheikh Mohammed attended the graduation ceremony of the first batch of a group of entrepreneurs of the Higher Colleges of Technology Startup Development Programme.

The programme is a response to an initiative to transform higher education institutions into business incubators to empower students and engage them into economic and creative activities and contribute to graduate highly-qualified entrepreneurs to support national economy with creative ideas that meet future requirements.

After reviewing a number of startups, Sheikh Mohammed said:’’ Equipping students with skills and tools for entrepreneurship constitutes an important aspect of the state’s directives as they (students) consider the real wealth and investment for a better future.’’ Investment in youth is the essence of our renaissance ... a foundation of our future and an enabler to cope with developments around us.’’

Sheikh Mohammed viewed a number of startups of young entrepreneurs spanning vital sectors from technology to health, cybersecurity, agritech, automation, 3D printing and education.

Since it was launched in 2019, the HCT Startup Development Programme established 108 startups and engaged 2,316 students. Students occupy 50 per cent of the top management of these companies.

One of the successful stories of the programme is “E-Fate”, a student-operated company, promoting sustainability and energy efficiency through the collection of electronic waste.

Better economic ecosystem: Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, confirmed that the economic initiatives launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, during his visit to the Ministry of Economy (MoE) serve as a qualitative shift towards developing the UAE’s economic ecosystem to be more competitive, resilient and sustainable, through a proactive approach and innovative policies, enabling it to keep pace with new economic trends. Al Marri explained that the initiatives are a part of the MoE’s Fifty Economy Plan, which aims to double the UAE’s GDP by 2030 across four main pillar, including developing economic enablers, increasing opportunities in the UAE’s economic climate, providing a more conducive environment for business growth, and enhancing the global role of the UAE’s economy.

The five initiatives, which include an accelerator for family-owned businesses; the UAE Growth Lab; the Skill-Up Academy; the Scale-Up Platform; and the Investopia Investment Summit, complement a number of other existing initiatives, such as the UAE Strategy for Talent Attraction and Retention, and the Grow in UAE portal, in supporting the UAE’s drive in achieving its objective to double its GDP and enhance its economic model. Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said that the launch of the initiatives paves the way for a new phase of economic development in the UAE, and focuses the efforts of the UAE’s government and private sectors to drive the growth of the local economy, highlighting the importance of entrepreneurship in enhancing the new economic model, through the Skill-Up Academy and the Scale-Up Platform, to support, and enhancing the UAE’s position as a leading global champion of entrepreneurship and SMEs. For his part, Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, affirmed that the MoE and its partners will seek to focus their efforts during the next period to implement the initiatives launched by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and enhance their impact in improving the UAE’s business and investment environments and driving its economy stressing that these initiatives.

Initiatives such as the Investopia Investment Summit and UAE Strategy for Talent Attraction and Retention will improve the UAE’s position as an attractive destination for foreign direct investment and a global hub for policy-making, idea generation, talent, advanced opportunities and building partnerships, he added. The family business accelerator platform seeks to improve the performance of family-owned businesses, help them enter new markets and build their brands. The initiative aims to enhance the contributions of family-owned business to the local economy, especially as they amount to 90 percent of private companies in the UAE. It also seeks to develop partnership between the Ministry of Economy, family-owned businesses and startups to help advance the efforts of these two segments in research and innovation, especially in providing new services and products. Established in collaboration with UAE University, Zayed University, American University of Sharjah, and New York University Abu Dhabi, the UAE Growth Lab initiative is designed to be a leading research institute that utilises data and advanced economic models to develop policies that can support the UAE’s competitiveness and leadership in the global economy, especially in trade, investment, SMEs, and fourth industrial revolution sectors.

The Skill-Up Academy seeks to develop the entrepreneurial skills of citizens and residents through educational initiatives and policies that also aim to promote diversification and the competitiveness of the local economy. The academy comprises 4 main programmes, namely an educational programme for school students; a skills development programme for university graduates; an entrepreneurship professional training programme; and a programme for honouring distinguished entrepreneurs.

WAM