Twenty-five government and private entities have joined forces to launch a new platform to support micro, small and medium enterprises (mSMEs) in Abu Dhabi.
These include the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (Added), Dubai’s business set-up advisory company Creative Zone, the Abu Dhabi Global Market, Twofour54, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Microsoft and Hub71.
Called “Setup in Abu Dhabi”, the platform aims to support business owners as they set up and grow their businesses in the UAE capital, Added said on Tuesday.
The initiative will offer integrated corporate solutions, advice and assistance to mSME owners.
executive director of the SMEs sector at Added
The platform is positioned as a marketplace where users will find all information related to setting up a business, support services such as banking, insurance, legal advice, tax and accounting, human resource services and much more, Added said.
The department is keen to enable the private sector to come up with more solutions to support and incentivise entrepreneurship and SMEs, said Mouza Al Nasiri, executive director of the SMEs sector at Added.
Setup in Abu Dhabi is a “significant step to provide a suitable ecosystem to support mSMEs as it is one of the vital sectors in the economy and plays a critical role in increasing GDP [gross domestic product] and job creation”, she said.
Other partners include Masdar, Khalifa Industrial Zone, ZonesCorp, Abu Dhabi Airport Free Zone, Khalifa Fund, Abu Dhabi SME Hub, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Etisalat, Telr, SME PM, Vestigos, Bloovo, DHL, InsuranceMarket.ae, Daman, Obeid and Medawar Law Firm, Team Red Dot and CZ Tax and Accounting.
As of 2018, there were 54,234 SMEs in the capital, out of which 33,760 were micro, 18,945 were small and 1,529 were medium enterprises, according to the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi.
Start-ups, SMEs and big enterprises in Abu Dhabi are active in various fields, including property, mining, manufacturing, gas and power supply, logistics, information and communications technology and financial activities.
The emirate’s recent steps to further enhance the economic climate and stimulate private establishments include reducing the number of requirements to start a business by 71 per cent and slashing business set-up fees by over 90 per cent.
Due to an innovative and flexible approach towards its economy, Abu Dhabi is counted among the fastest emerging international business centres, Creative Zone chief executive Lorenzo Jooris said.
“The government has deployed several different entrepreneur-focused projects and Setup in Abu Dhabi will unite and bolster these projects under one umbrella to make it easier for foreign and local entrepreneurs to navigate Abu Dhabi’s business landscape,” Mr Jooris said.
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Engine: Duel electric motors
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How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
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Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
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