His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and President of Dubai Airports Corporation, Supreme President and CEO of Emirates Airlines Group, has announced the launch of the “Attracting Innovation Program”, an ambitious initiative that will establish Dubai as a global hub for technologies and innovative solutions, and to help Innovative SMEs to achieve expansion internationally from Dubai. His Highness’s announcement came during the Startup Night event, which was recently hosted by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, one of Dubai’s economic institutions, and a group of emerging and innovative companies participated in it, to dialogue on the leadership and future of successful businesses.
Program Goals
The program, designed and implemented by the "Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises", aims to attract more than 25,000 startups and innovative companies from around the world, especially those that see Dubai as a new market for their innovative solutions, and work to facilitate their entry into Dubai.
The Foundation developed the "Attracting Innovation Program" on the "Start Alliance" platform, which is a partnership of institutions supporting innovative projects in 15 countries, which plays the role of enabling and facilitating innovations, including Germany, Singapore and Japan.
The program will focus on innovative solutions in six major sectors from around the world, including space, transport and mobility, energy efficiency, medicine and health, education and information technology, in line with the strategic focus that the Emirate of Dubai is adopting on these sectors, which are the main enablers of innovation Manufacturing and sustainable development.
Business interface
The Director General of Dubai Economy, Sami Al Qamzi, said: “The innovation attraction program represents an action plan to translate visions and strategies through which the Emirate of Dubai, and the UAE in general, aspire to achieving concrete results in this field, and to ensure the strengthening of the knowledge-based economy.” He emphasized that Dubai It has unique characteristics that make it a front for pioneering businesses, and when enabling our startups with the appropriate resources, they can reach innovative solutions, and contribute to accelerating our transition to a competitive economy and challenge the future.
Al Qamzi explained that the program will contribute significantly to achieving the goals of Dubai and the Mohammed bin Rashid Foundation for Small and Medium Enterprise Development 2021 plan, to enhance the leadership and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises through innovation, and achieve stronger integration between small and medium companies through providing high-growth economic opportunities.
Attracting innovation
In turn, the Executive Director of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises, Abdul Baset Al-Janahi, said that the “Attracting Innovation Program” links local small and medium companies with a global system capable of facing the challenges of establishing and developing a new market, indicating that the initiative itself represents a path It is two directions, as it works primarily to pave the way for small and medium-sized companies to be global in nature, as well as to direct most prominent innovators from around the world to new markets via Dubai.
Al-Janahi pointed out that innovative small and medium-sized companies will be identified under this program, to support their smooth arrival and rapid transfer to Dubai, and then help them to reach growth markets around the world, and provide the necessary financing for them to achieve growth.
He stressed that the program will play a pivotal role in enhancing Dubai's position as an ideal center for innovative institutions, and an optimal climate to help it grow, expand and spread around the world.
The program focuses on innovative solutions in six main sectors.