A new initiative aimed at opening doors to some of Dubai's biggest government and corporate entities for small companies was announced at the Gitex Future Stars event on Monday.
Essa Al Zaabi, senior vice-president of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Institutional Support Sector said the new Market Access scheme was aimed at offering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the opportunity to become suppliers to some of the biggest firms in the emirate.
Speaking on a panel debate titled ‘Making Dubai The Next Big Start-Up Hub’, Al Zaabi said that an initial 12 opportunities to supply firms had been identified and more details were available via the chamber's website.
A press statement announcing the scheme listed Flydubai, Emirates NBD and Fiat Chrysler among the corporate entities participating in the programme and said that SMEs capable of delivering the required services, ranging from digital marketing to helping with customer acquisition, need to submit their ideas and pitches by October 31.
"What we are trying to do here, we're trying to make it a win-win," Al Zaabi said at the panel event. "We have been working with major banks, major government entities and private entities in Dubai… working to identify real problems and real issues they have within their businesses and premises [for which] they are looking for a solution. And the solution should come from start-ups who are already in the market."
Al Zaabi said he believed the Market Access scheme is unique in the region. "And it was not easy for us to convince corporates. Today, most of the corporates are working on a very lean structure. They don't have extra time to go and meet start-ups and test start-ups to see if they will succeed or not. They want delivery.”
However, he added that they had expressed a willingness to get involved "provided there is a programme or there is something in the middle who can identify the right start-ups for them and ensure these start-ups are able to deliver".
He said he expected more corporates to join the scheme in the future.
Also speaking at the panel event, the acting executive vice-president of the new Fintech Hive accelerator at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Raja Al Mazrouei, said it had received an initial 200 applications for its first programme, which kicked off in August with 11 finalists, adding that the number "exceeded our expectations".
"When we started speaking to and interviewing the participants, one of the questions was 'why Dubai?' We have three participants from the U.S., one from the U.K. and one from Sweden. We asked them, why do you want to come to Dubai? Obviously, because it's an emerging market with emerging opportunities," she said, adding that accessibility and innovation were other reasons cited by interviewees.
She also said that DIFC provided innovation testing licenses that allowed fintech start-ups "to test their products in a secure and regulated environment".
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