Dubai’s ruler approves AED30 bln for industrial sector SMEs to bolster economy
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE, and ruler of Dubai, approved the Emirates Development Bank (EDB) strategy to provide AED 30 billion in financial support to start-ups and businesses, state news agency WAM reported on Tuesday.
EBD aims to bolster the UAE’s economy by offering support to priority industrial sectors over the next five years which will contribute to financing over 13,500 SMEs and creating around 25,000 jobs, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and EDB chairman Dr. Sultan al-Jaber, told WAM.
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The economy-boosting strategy was launched to support ‘Operation 300bn’, a ten-year program inaugurated last month which aims to more than double the industrial sector’s contribution to the UAE’s GDP, and to eventually position the country as an industrial hub worldwide by 2031.
“Operation 300bn is a comprehensive national program aimed at enhancing the contribution of the industrial sector to the UAE’s sustainable economic growth. Through close collaboration, the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology and the Emirates Development Bank will extend support to large corporations, SMEs and entrepreneurs across various industries including healthcare, infrastructure, food security and technology,” said al-Jaber.
He added that the EDB would provide SMEs with “other tools including supply chain support, project financing, long-term financing, business accelerators, equity capital financing, and a business growth support fund”.
Since the EDB’s inception, the bank has supported 550 companies and allocated business loans amounting to AED 1.8 billion to SMEs.
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