UAE affirms its position as a major destination for investment, growth

The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) organised on Wednesday the official ceremony of the “Sharjah Excellence Award” (SEA), where winners of enterprises from the public and private sectors and strategic partners have been honoured.

Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, Chairman of the SCCI Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Sharjah Excellence Award, honoured the winning institutions and individuals, partners, sponsors, members of the jury committees, and the award team.

In the Sharjah Social Responsibility category, the award went to the Academy of Police Sciences, Sharjah Social Services Department, and Sharjah International Airport Authority.

The Sharjah Police General Command and Our Own English High School, Branch 1, won the Sharjah Green Award.

Bright Environment Company in Sharjah won the Sharjah Excellence Award, while the Sharjah Entrepreneurs Award went to Khamis bin Salem Al Suwaidi and Hamed Ahmed Al Hamed.

In Sharjah Small & Medium Enterprises category, the award went to Blonde Luxury Beauty Lounge, Sana Marketing National Industries for General Trading, while the Sharjah Cooperative Society won Sharjah Best Security Standards Award.

Al Owais congratulated the winners and lauded the efforts of evaluation teams and jury committees of the 2020/2021 Award cycle, highlighting the development stages of the award over the past 30 years, which started in 1990 with one category, to reach 9 categories today.

“About 20 participants took part in the first cycle of the award, while 599 participants took part in this year’s edition, in addition to 509 evaluators, 70 members of jury committees, and 59 events and workshops,” added Al Owais.

He stated that the award has gained a major foothold as a catalyst to spread the culture of institutional excellence and total quality management within the Sharjah business community.

Al Owais continued to say that the Sharjah Excellence Award has played a key role in improving the performance of business enterprises to support the goals and aspirations of the local and federal government when it comes to enhancing the position of the UAE as a major destination for investment and growth in the region.

The SCCI Chairman added: “The Chamber will continue to develop the award categories and launch similar initiatives to create a competitive environment conducive to enhancing productivity, creativity, and innovation. This comes in line with the directives of the Sharjah government to spread the best practices of total quality and excellence, as well as the award vision for the benefit of Sharjah’s economy, by promoting sustainable economic growth and recognition of achievements in business.”

Sharjah Excellence Award is initiated by the SCCI to create the investment climate, enhance its competitive capabilities and help it benefit from the values of quality, leadership, and innovation. The award aims to achieve sustainable economic growth, support emerging investments, and honour distinguished businesses in all sectors.

The award criteria are based on the Excellence Model of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), which adopts comprehensive strategies to improve institutional performance in accordance with the highest international quality standards.

Meanwhile the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) discussed with its Cuban counterpart enhancing joint work to develop commercial activity and develop areas of economic cooperation between the Emirate of Sharjah and Cuba.

The two sides also explored available investment opportunities, while highlighting the importance of strengthening communication mechanisms to organize mutual visits of business owners, missions and trade delegations from both sides.

This came during the meeting held recently between  Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, Chairman of the SCCI, and Antonio Carricarte Corona, President of the Chamber of Commerce in Cuba.

The meeting took place at the representative office of the Sharjah Chamber participating in Expo 2020 Dubai, in the presence of Abdulaziz Shattaf Musaed Director General of the Communication and Business Sector, Sharjah Chamber, and Jamal Bouzanjal, Director of the Corporate Communications Department, Sharjah Chamber.

Also attending were Luis Martinez from the International Relations Department for the Middle East and African Countries at the Cuba Chamber, and Heba Al Marzouki, Head of the Business Councils and Joint Committees Department.