The Ministry of Finance stated that it is currently preparing to launch a government procurement platform that includes all goods and services needed by government agencies, noting that (the platform) will comprise between 80% and 90% of government purchases, and about 36 major government agencies are involved in its first phase.
The Ministry confirmed, during a symposium organized by the Emirates Entrepreneur Association yesterday, that only 186 small and medium-sized companies are registered in the registry of suppliers for the federal government, while there are thousands of small companies registered in the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development and the Mohammed bin Rashid Foundation for Small and Medium Enterprises Development.
In addition, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation revealed that the nuclear program concluded contracts with 2000 local companies, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, at a value of 17.5 billion dirhams, during all phases of the development of Barakah's peaceful nuclear energy stations.
Small companies
In detail, Maryam Mohammed Al-Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance for Public Financial Management Affairs in the Ministry of Finance, said that “186 small and medium-sized companies only are registered in the supplier registry for the federal government, while there are thousands of small companies registered in the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development and the Mohammed bin Rashid Foundation Small and Medium Enterprises Development.
She added, during the symposium organized by the Emirates Entrepreneurs Association, yesterday evening, entitled "Governmental Purchases and Emirati Entrepreneurs .. Opportunities and Challenges", that "the Ministry is currently preparing to launch a platform for government procurement, which will serve as a huge website, which includes all the goods and services that Needed by various government agencies », calling for small and medium-sized national companies to register in the supplier registry for the federal government, to be able to enter the platform and obtain a large share of government purchases.
Al-Amiri explained that the platform will include between 80% and 90% of government purchases, and about 36 major government agencies will participate in its first stage, and the platform will include 15 major categories of tenders, each category includes dozens of goods and services, and it will be available for all government agencies to conclude purchasing contracts Long-term, from the platform, for up to three years. The platform reduces the duration of government purchases from 60 days to just six minutes.
It indicated that additional benefits will be provided in the future for owners of small and medium enterprises, including registration and free renewal, and the development of new procurement policies for the new platform.
She revealed that support will be provided to entrepreneurs by adding the slogan "Made by Small and Medium Enterprises" on the digital procurement platform, with the aim of achieving 10% of the total government purchases and directing them to the owners of small and medium enterprises, which amounts to 500 million dirhams, taking into account that they are made Study to increase the percentage in the future in accordance with the developments.
The nuclear program
For his part, Mohammed Al Junaibi, Director of Procurement and Supply Chain Department at the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, revealed that "the nuclear program concluded contracts with 2000 local companies, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, at a value of 17.5 billion dirhams, during all phases of the development of Barakah's peaceful nuclear energy stations."
On his part, Executive Director of the Government Procurement Office at the Abu Dhabi Government Support Department, Tris Al Ketbi, affirmed that “the department is currently working on launching a specialized platform for entrepreneurs and medium and small companies in Abu Dhabi”, indicating that three circulars have been issued regarding economic incentives for government purchases in the emirate To overcome the repercussions of "Corona", the most important of which is to exempt companies from the bidding guarantee and exempt them from the performance bond, provided that government agencies reserve 5% of the value of each invoice due for a period of three months after the final delivery.
For her part, she requested the director of the national program for projects and small and medium enterprises in the Ministry of Economy, Azza Suleiman, to accelerate the establishment of the federal government procurement platform, and also called on small companies to update their data with the program, to increase their opportunities to benefit from government purchases.
Thuraya Mohammed, Director of the Governmental Procurement Program at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, stressed that "small and medium companies constitute 99.2% of the total number of companies registered in the Emirate of Dubai, and contribute about 46% of the emirate's gross domestic product", explaining that these are the most Affected by the repercussions of the pandemic, which calls for rapid intervention to save the sector.
She stated that the corporation has conducted a study of the effects of "Corona", which revealed that 24% of companies do not have enough liquidity for a month to fulfill their financial obligations, while 34% of companies have enough liquidity from one to three months, noting that many initiatives and programs have been launched. To provide liquidity and reduce operating costs, and to develop business continuity solutions for entrepreneurs.
In the same context, Mona Al Shafar, Senior Director of Purchases at Emirates Airlines said that there are many opportunities for small companies in dealing with (Emirates Airlines), the most prominent of which is the field of food and non-food supplies, noting that there are two procurement platforms, the first: general that includes Various tenders, the second: related to innovation and is devoted to offering innovative ideas. There are no registration fees.
Large companies
For his part, the President of the Emirati Entrepreneur Association, Sanad Al-Maqbali, stressed at the symposium that the repercussions of the Corona Virus outbreak crisis have created some challenges and burdens for small and medium-sized companies and citizen entrepreneurs, which calls for the need to educate the importance of supporting Emirati entrepreneurs, indicating that the more Directing government purchases towards Emirati entrepreneurs, the more they contribute to supporting the UAE economy.
Al-Moqbali called for the necessity of finding special legislations for Emirati businessmen to ensure fair competition in the market with the major entities and companies, in addition to activating a platform dedicated to government purchases directed to businessmen and increasing the volume of support for this platform.
The fallout from "Corona"
Ibrahim Bin Shaheen, Vice President of the Emirati Entrepreneur Association said, “There are government agencies that are not committed to allocating 10% or 15% of their purchases to small and medium-sized enterprises,” stressing the need to support small and medium-sized enterprises, especially since encouraging large companies in the country to purchase from Small and medium enterprises will achieve a significant positive impact, indicating that some companies suffer from a liquidity problem in light of the decline in sales during the past three months.
Challenges for companies
Sultan Al Muhairi, the local content manager for the “Etihad Airways Group”, said that 30% of the company’s spending is allocated to UAE-based suppliers, indicating that the company is ready to increase this percentage in the future.