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DED to review SME policies

DUBAI - In an attempt to upgrade and enhance its services for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in Dubai, the Department of Economic Development (DED) is working in close co-operation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to review its current SME policies.

DED officials in co-ordination with a UNDP expert have been reviewing the Department's current strategies, institutional framework and measures to support SME development in Dubai, in addition to assessing their consistency with international best practice. The UNDP is also expected to assist the DED in defining the criteria that SME's must meet in order to attract support from the Department.

"In most of the countries today, the contribution of small and medium enterprises is significantly greater than that of large enterprises in respect of new innovations, productive employment including self-employment and optimum utilisation of latent resources," said Mr Khalid Al Kassim, Deputy Director-General, Development and Planning, DED.

"The Department is committed to supporting the systematic and structured growth of SME's in Dubai. We are leveraging the expertise of the UNDP to review our existing policies so that they can be streamlined and upgraded in keeping with international best practices," he added.

"The UNDP expert has commended DED's established policies that offer extensive support to the fast growing SME sector," said Mr. Al Kassim. He has particularly acclaimed the training courses currently being provided by the DED and said they offer comprehensive modules of specific knowledge directly linked to the practical aspects of setting up and managing a business.

The DED-UNDP cooperation will also establish criteria to classify the SMEs according to economic sectors, organisation size and history of operations, to make them eligible for support from the Department.

In addition, a set of guiding principles, consistent with international best practices will be laid down to underpin the operational philosophy of the programme for successful SME upgrading. These will include technical advice related to internationally used methodologies that can be adapted successfully to the business environment in Dubai and upgrades on training programmes to bring them on par with international benchmarks.