The Board of Trustees of the National Network of Small and Medium Enterprises held its 2nd meeting at the Mohammed bin Rashid Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Development Foundation, Dubai. In attendance was H.E. Ahmed Al Midfa’, Chairman of Ruwad Establishment’s Board of Trustees, H.E. Dr Ahmed Al Mutawa’, Deputy Manager of the SME Board of Trustees and CEO of the Khalifa Fund, H.E. Abdul Basit Al Jinahi, Board Member and CEO of the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development, H.E. Hamid bin Salim, Board Member and CEO of the Rashid bin Mualla programme for the development of youth projects, Dr Nabeel Al Tarif, CEO of the Soud bin Saqr Establishment for SMEs, and Khalid Muqallad, General Coordinator for the SME National Network.
During the meeting, participants discussed in detail the network’s operational plan and future for the next three years. The plan aims to strengthen the network’s competitive factor and make cooperative efforts between network members and other authorities, including local and international establishments. Formation of branch committees tasked with the preparation and execution of the business plan, in cooperation with SME owners, was also approved, as was formation of the executive committee, under the chairmanship of Hamid bin Salim, and with the network’s General Coordinator, representatives of each of the network’s founding institutions, and a number of young entrepreneurs as members, in order to promote the role of small business owners.
Two kinds of memberships were also approved by the Board of Trustees, allowing companies with joint investments to join the SME Network, alongside other national establishments, which will help add value to the network.
As an entity consisting of various establishments supporting SMEs and SME owners as members, the Board of Trustees decided that the SME National Network would be the source of collective ideas and suggestions representing the work environment and information regarding the SME sector. To achieve this end, an integral system to develop and prepare the perfect environment for SMEs will be established.
In cooperation with the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development and the Khalifa Fund to Support and Develop SMEs, the Board of Trustees agreed to establish a website containing information about the SME Network, as well as small enterprises and statistical data.
