Emirati entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprise financing institutions have identified eight demands to help them overcome the consequences of "corona". These include asking banks to give loans with "zero" or very low interest rates to entrepreneurs, restructuring loans, and providing facilities for new loans, noting that the biggest problem Entrepreneurs are currently facing liquidity shortages, and banks have not contributed to pumping more liquidity to develop the capabilities of the private sector and provide a new source of income. During a Ramadan council, they called on the challenges and opportunities as a result of the Corona virus (Covid-19), organized by the Emirates Entrepreneurs Association, to exempt businessmen who cannot pay rents, installment, postponement and reduction of government fees, and activate the proportion of government purchases from small projects estimated at 10 %, With priority given to citizenship companies, and the creation of a fund to support small and medium-sized national projects, and revealed that government incentives are continuing, and new incentive packages are on the way, which will be announced soon.
Banking benefits
In detail, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UAE Entrepreneur Association, Sanad Al-Maqbali, demanded to reduce the bank benefits of entrepreneurs and restructure the loans they obtained, while providing facilities for new loans obtained during the crisis, so that they are given a grace period for several months before starting repayment, And increase the payment period to be more than four years.
Al-Muqbali also called for exempting businessmen who cannot pay rents at the present time, and recommending that the Corona epidemic be considered a disaster to facilitate their exemption from rents, noting the importance of installment, postponement and reduction of government fees, including fees for renewing commercial licenses, noting that a number of Entrepreneurs have been hit hard, and they need government support until the crisis ends.
He stressed that the challenges facing entrepreneurs are mostly the same, and they relate to communicating with banks and rents, pointing out that contact has been made with the central bank, and there is a response from banks regarding the delay of loan installments for certain periods, according to the policies of these banks.
He explained that the “Association” has formed a working group to communicate with the entrepreneurs, and to know the challenges facing them, explaining that the sectors have been affected by different proportions, and these challenges have been identified, and that the solutions should come from the entrepreneur himself, along with government incentives, as the entrepreneur is responsible On the development of any defect in the work, through information technology or points of sale, etc., and the association sent some proposals to the competent government agencies, and there is a great response from them.
Support fund
For his part, Director General of the Sharjah Foundation for Supporting Entrepreneurial Projects called “Ruwwad”, Hamad Al-Mahmoud, to establish a fund to support small and medium-sized national projects, to be adopted by federal entities and large companies, and merchants least affected by the Corona pandemic. He also called on banks to reduce the obligations imposed by banks on Real estate developers, in order to alleviate the owners of the affected projects.
He said that the most prominent challenges facing entrepreneurs are related to loan installments required by banks, banking obligations and rents, payment of employees and workers salaries, government fees and low profits, pointing out that "Rowad" announced several incentives for entrepreneurs, chief among which is the postponement of the installments of projects funded by them for a period Six months, and it is being reviewed, and this delay can be renewed for a period of between three and six months, depending on the status of each project, and it was agreed to deliver the requests of members in the "pioneers" at a discount of up to 50%, to reduce operational burdens on them.
He pointed out that there is currently communication with electronic platforms to facilitate the accession of entrepreneurs to them, and offer their products at competitive prices supported on these platforms, indicating that a proposal is being considered to exempt from government fees for projects that were established more than three years ago, where the exemption is currently 100% of the fees for new projects, and 50% of the fees are exempted during the first three years of their establishment.
He emphasized that government incentives are continuous and have not stopped, and that the damages are continuous, and that "pioneers" are in the process of issuing a guide to introduce entrepreneurs to how to benefit from government incentives.
Lack of liquidity
For its part, Acting CEO of the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, Moza Al-Nasiri, said that the biggest problem facing entrepreneurs is the lack of liquidity and cash flows, due to the lack of sales and the difficulty of covering project expenditures, adding that these companies have applied for loans from banks, but that Some of them did not get the required loan because some criteria do not apply to them.
Al-Nasseri explained that there are new incentive packages on the way, which will be announced soon.
The Executive Director of the Investment and Business Development Sector in the Ajman Chamber, Mohammed Al-Janahi, called for giving priority to small Emirati companies in obtaining government tenders. He also called on banks to give loans with "zero" interest, or with very low interest, and move quickly to support small projects faster and better.
Governmental procurement
The executive director of Dubai Consulting Company, Walid Hareb Al-Falahi, called for activating the percentage of government purchases from small projects, estimated at 10%.
He said that there is no major response from banks, as yet, to the demands of the private sector and entrepreneurs.
Business community
The expert and investment and economic researcher, Mohammed Al-Mahri, considered that the business community has experienced several shocks previously, and that the current Corona crisis is not the first crisis, and that it is important to get out of the shock situation quickly, adapt to the existing situation, and face the challenge by relying on itself.
- Requiring banks to give loans with "zero" interest to entrepreneurs, and to restructure loans.