ASTF and AUSE in coordination with Mawarid Finance announce 1st Arab Industrial Enterprises Competition

This competition aims to encourage and to inspire the Arab youth to establish new industrial enterprises with Mawarid Finance being a local partner for the United Arab Emirates.

The announcement came on the sidelines of the 3rd annual forum on research cooperation initiative brining together companies, universities and research centers organized by Information Technology Industry Development Agency in Arab Republic of Egypt during the last week; the forum was sponsored by the Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif in presence of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Hani Hilal, Minister of Telecommunication and Information Tariq Kamel and Minister of Economy Yosuf Butrus Ghali in addition to representatives of diplomatic missions and government departments.

Due to the leading role played by Mawarid Finance in the two past years in terms of providing support to small and medium enterprises in the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed Mosabeh Al Neaimi, Chief Executive Officer and Rehab Lootah, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communication were invited to the said forum.

"We nominated Mawarid Finance after we paid special attention on contributions and initiatives made by Mawarid Finance during the past period and on discussion forums organized by the Company;" said Abdullah Abdul Aziz Al Najjar, Head of ASTF.

"Mawarid Finance provided support to SMEs as a sector which don't need huge investments though it is considered a driving force of economy of any country since they are more able to deal with global economic and financial crisis comparing to big companies as a result of their flexibility in terms of restructuring purposes which means that these enterprises are more beneficial to Arab countries."

Mr. Al Najjar added.

"We are very pleased to be nominated as a partner and a representative in the United Arab Emirates for the competition, and will endeavor to make it a great success and to shed light on the role played by the United Arab Emirates in this regard using expertise and knowledge we accumulated thanks to the discussion forums we organized during the two past years," said Mohammed Mosabeh Al Neaimi, CEO of Mawarid Finance Group of Companies.

"Mawarid Finance is the third company after Khalifa Fund and Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment in the United Arab Emirates to become a member to the AUSE of the Council of Arab Economic Unity which has 12 Arab countries as members," said Mohammed Mosabeh Al Neaimi.

"Our membership will result in raising awareness about entrepreneurship, will encourage leadership spirit and enhance competitive edge of young businessmen", Al Neaimi added.

"We met Egyptian ministers of Higher Education, Information and Economy during the third annual forum of research support initiative, and this meeting resulted in many investments that will be considered by our board of directors which will certainly lead to a big shift in our operations."

With regard to the competition, Al Neaimi said that it will encourage the youth to establish more small and medium industrial enterprises and will foster human resources development through training the youth to use skills necessary to enter into the realm of entrepreneurship.

Mrs. Rehab Lootah, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, Mawarid Finance, spoke about the competition saying that the competition will be announced during the next June, that nomination for the competition will be open for the nationals and residents alike while the latter should have a valid UAE residence, that nominations may be made by individuals or teams provided that a team should have a UAE national.

Mrs. Rehab added that there are no pre-requirements of academic qualifications or age groups, but submissions shouldn't have been presented before any other financial or academic authorities. According to Mrs. Lootah, the competition aims to provide training to 100 applicants from each Arab country with regard to preparing successful business plans, managing industrial enterprises and preparing an outstanding presentation of business ideas.

"Five winners from around the Arab world will be eligible to cash prizes estimated at hundred of thousands after going through various phases of evaluation over a period of approximately 30 weeks up to announcing the winners," Mrs. Lootah explained.

"The competition will include five phases, i.e. training, nominating best concepts, preparing a shortlist of qualifiers and announcing winners; however, applications may be made by completing a form to be available on the competition website; these business concepts will be recommended to financiers and businessmen during a conference to be held for small and medium industries." Mrs. Rehab concluded.