The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, an Abu Dhabi government agency, and Amazon teamed up on a new programme that will back small and medium-sized enterprises in the emirate.
Under a free online education programme called e-Empower, the US e-commerce company will offer a 10-week training course to thousands of SMEs in the emirate that wish to start a new online business or expand an existing platform.
It will also provide business advice for up to four months, the fund said on Wednesday.
“We are confident that, together with Amazon, we will empower entrepreneurs across a diverse range of industries to take their businesses to the next level in the e-commerce space,” said Mohammed Al Shorafa, chairman of the fund and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development.
“The partnership... will bring about groundbreaking benefits for UAE entrepreneurs.”
SMEs account for 98 per cent of all companies in Abu Dhabi, making them a key pillar of the emirate’s economy. The UAE capital has announced various measures to support and develop SMEs, including economic relief packages during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government has sought to attract more high-tech start-ups and businesses to Abu Dhabi as part of its focus on artificial intelligence, agriculture technology, food security and industrialisation.
The e-Empower programme is intended to help SMEs thrive in a digital economy by offering them resources and insights needed to reach a wider customer base through Amazon.
The partnership is part of the Abu Dhabi Inspires programme, a series of initiatives aimed at turning the adversity linked to the outbreak into opportunity.
“This new partnership is a natural next step in our journey to promote innovation, further develop the UAE’s SME sector and ultimately support the growth of our national entrepreneurial culture, in line with the Abu Dhabi vision,” Mr Al Shorafa said.
Participants will be taught how to jump-start their business growth on Amazon.ae through customised curriculums and personalised recommendations.
Entrepreneurs will also have access to Amazon's selling partner benefits such as easy listing tools, payment processing and promotional features to help them become more visible to customers, he said.
There has been a change in UAE consumer habits as people spending more time at home increasingly turn to online shopping, hastening the growth of e-commerce in the region.
The Department of Economic Development issues e-commerce licences to encourage entrepreneurs to adopt online platforms for existing projects and businesses.
Amazon said its overall partnership with small businesses is across a range of activities that help companies to sell products online, deliver goods, publish books and create new apps or other technology businesses using Amazon’s cloud services.
More than half of everything sold through Amazon comes from third-party sellers, most of which are SMEs, it said.
The US company said it plans to invest more than $18 billion (Dh66.1bn) this year in logistics, tools, services, programmes and on the recruitment of staff to develop the growth of its SME sellers.
“We are confident that our efforts with the Khalifa Fund will see us welcome more Abu Dhabi entrepreneurs to Amazon.ae, as they choose to grow their businesses with us,” said Ronaldo Mouchawar, vice president of Amazon Middle East and North Africa.
On Tuesday, the Dubai government and e-commerce platform Noon said they had teamed up on a new programme to back Emirati e-commerce businesses as part of efforts to grow the local digital economy.
The programme will connect start-ups that have a DED Trader licence with customers across the region through the Mahali online store on Noon.com.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
French Touch
Carla Bruni
(Verve)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
Superliminal%20
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The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
|
Age
|
$250 a month
|
$500 a month
|
$1,000 a month
|
|
25
|
$640,829
|
$1,281,657
|
$2,563,315
|
|
35
|
$303,219
|
$606,439
|
$1,212,877
|
|
45
|
$131,596
|
$263,191
|
$526,382
|
|
55
|
$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Result
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Man City: Jesus (39), David Silva (41)
Match info
Liverpool 4
Salah (19'), Mane (45 2', 53'), Sturridge (87')
West Ham United 0
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Who is Ramon Tribulietx?
Born in Spain, Tribulietx took sole charge of Auckland in 2010 and has gone on to lead the club to 14 trophies, including seven successive Oceania Champions League crowns. Has been tipped for the vacant New Zealand national team job following Anthony Hudson's resignation last month. Had previously been considered for the role.
THE%20SWIMMERS
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