AJMAN: The Department of Economic Development – Ajman (DED-Ajman) signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (KFED) to help bolster and promote a culture of entrepreneurship in the UAE. The agreement, which was signed by H.E. Ali Issa Al Nuaimi, Director General of DED-Ajman and H.E. Abdullah Saeed Al Darmaki, CEO of Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, aims to join hands and enhance cooperation to support Emirati entrepreneurs and SME owners.
The agreement looks towards identifying objectives and areas of cooperation between the two parties to serve public interest and provide much needed support to entrepreneurs and owners of SMEs in the UAE–helping facilitate their work and contribute to promoting the culture of self-employment and developing vital sectors within the UAE.
H.E. Al Nuaimi said, “The agreement represents an advanced step towards promoting entrepreneurship–fully encouraging young Emirati people to engage in entrepreneurship and establish SMEs, which have become the backbone of advanced economies around the world. Our cooperation agreement with Khalifa Fund will further enhance our efforts towards strengthening Ajman’s position as a destination for SMEs in line with Ajman Vision 2021, which aims to create a competitive environment to attract local, regional and global investments.”
For his part, Al Darmaki stressed on the importance of the agreement, which serves as a required step to joining hands to develop a joint mechanism designed to implement programs intended for SME owners. He also highlighted the Fund’s keenness to promote cooperation with government and federal entities, including DED-Ajman, in order to enhance entrepreneurship and support the UAE youth in their efforts to achieve their dreams and ambitions.
He said: “As a supportive and encouraging way of doing business, we will exempt the Fund’s members from the fees needed to issue and renew the commercial licenses in the Emirate of Ajman, as well as exempting them from the bank guarantees of workers. The Fund’s members shall also be exempted from the fees needed to issue and renew commercial licenses from DED-Ajman, and benefit from support and recommendation letters addressed to the various entities with the possibility of obtaining discounts and business networks guide, in addition to the exemption from bank guarantees of workers, while DED-Ajman will allocate 10 per cent of its annual purchases and contracts for the members of Khalifa Fund”.
Al Darmaki concluded: “We look forward to co-operating with DED-Ajman, as this will open new horizons to transfer, disseminate and enrich knowledge of SME owners and provide them with the necessary training, studies, consultancy and franchises by the two parties, in line with the vision of the wise leadership to enhance the role of Emirati youth in entrepreneurship. Khalifa Fund is committed to promoting entrepreneurship and leadership among national talent in cooperation with government entities and partners to accomplish the common aspirations aimed at achieving a quality-focused step in the various sectors vital to the path of growth and economic diversification of the UAE.”
The two parties also agreed on exerting efforts in the development of a clearer framework and to establish a solid basis for comprehensive and joint cooperation to serve their objectives, including establishing a clear mechanism for implementing the plan of the proposed programs for SME owners, in addition to contributing to introducing new laws for SMEs and cooperate in developing clear and in-depth studies that would help entrepreneurs discover the market fundamentals and requirements, as well as cooperate in providing franchises to members in the programs created by both two parties. News Desk
