DUBAI: This year’s edition of the annual SME Beyond Borders Dubai, which took place today, (Wednesday, March 6, 2019) at the JW Marriot Marquis, Dubai organized by SME Advisor brought together 10 leading global experts to throw spotlight on enterprise owners in preparing for the future; exploring the key factors that will influence the future of business and getting an insight of trends and technologies that will likely emerge over the next decade.
Themed ‘SME 10X – The Future of Business, 10 Years from Now’, the conference SME Beyond Borders 2019 was graced by presence of futurists, policymakers and industry leaders to assess trends shaping the future of business; covering a wide-range of topics from technology-revamping industries of the future to the UAE’s space exploration ambitions.
The agenda included multiple interactions throughout the day for the exchange of futuristic ideas: “Re-building trust in a paranoid future” by Ian Khan; Peter Hinssenn’s “The day after tomorrow”, Musthafa PC’s “The future of retail”, Dr. Majid Sultan Al Qassimi’s “The future of food security and social impact”, Mohamed Hamdy’s “The future of enterprise”, Mustafa Kheriba’s “The future of funding and SME investment”; Rami Harsinghani’s “The future of VR”, Jenk OZ’s “The future generation”, Charlie Ang’s “The future of industry 4.0 – and how to survive it”; and Reyhan Jamalova’s “The future of sustainable energy” were all highlights of the exchanges between prominent industry professionals.
Ramit Harisinghani, VP and head of Middle East & Africa at HTC Vive, one of the company’s participating speaker commented: “The SME community contributes significantly to the region’s economic landscape while often being early adopters of new ideas, tool and technologies. In particular, today’s virtual reality (VR) systems are enabling these organizations to collaborate, test, design, and even market products in entirely new ways. We remain committed to developing the VR ecosystem and are keen to be collaborating with SMEs across the region to unlock this potential.”
Reyhan Jamalova, CEO, Rainergy and Forbes 30 Under 30, said: “I am very happy to be a part of the 2019 edition of SME Beyond Borders, which presents the perfect opportunity to embrace and discuss the latest challenges and explore innovative avenues to achieve sustainability. Significant recent changes to the environment, economy and technology have resulted in SME Beyond Borders being the ideal place where world leaders can openly discuss and work together.”
Aligned with the UAE’s vision of the future, the annual SME Beyond Borders conference provides a venue for stakeholders from the government and private sectors to present their key strategies as they strive to build a better future for all. It takes on subjects of national and global importance, including technological innovations that will greatly impact the small and medium enterprise sector.
Shoaib Al Rahimi, VP, Business Park at Dubai South said, “Supporting SMEs is at the core of Dubai South’s leading initiatives to boost economic activities in Dubai and the UAE. Participating at this year’s edition of SME Beyond Borders is testament to our commitment to cultivate the culture of entrepreneurship and become part of the pillars that chart the course of SMEs into the future. Considering their significant role as key drivers of the economy, especially in the Dubai which comprises 60 per cent of all enterprises, Dubai South has carefully designed its business solutions for SMEs. We focus our efforts on advanced services that caters their current and future needs by providing them with smart facilities and flexible leasing options so they can concentrate on expanding their business’ core strategies and growth targets.”
The latest edition’s sponsors are Cigna (Official Insurance Partner); Dubai South (Official Freezone Partner); SAP (Official Technology Partner); Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi (Official Airline Partner); Toyota (Exclusive Car Partner); Strategic Partners DIFC Courts, Hawkamah, CRIF and Dun & Bradstreet; and Supporting Partners Launch DXB, happenize, Orient Planet Group, plantshop.ae, Kashwani Law Firm, and the Star Quadrant. BIZ TODAY REPORT
