As quoted by a recent survey by International Data Corporation (IDC), Gulf’s SME sector is heading towards a great leap for the first time in last decade, as it may even upstage the countries having core Oil and Natural resource sector within 2023. The report forecasts that the total SME market segment would foresee a growth percentage of 156 percent and would be worth a staggering $920 million by 2023.
The SME (Small and Medium Business) Enterprise are poised to be a rich revenue grosser and is expected to
- Generate a whopping 22 million new jobs which are a new record as it will upstage the previous record of 17 million jobs created last five years-As quoted in the second India-UAE Partnership Summit (IUPS)
- According to the words quoted by Indian Ambassador to gulf Navdeep Singh Suri, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are poised to generate mass jobs thereby significantly impacting economic potentiality of both countries amongst other big economies like China, Japan, South Africa, etc.
- According to a leading Emirate research paper, the overall contribution of the SME sector in the Gulf stood at 22 percentage in the Middle Eastern GDP contribution. UAE leads from the front as its total GDP contribution stands out at 30 percent and the non-oil GDP output surges at a whopping 60 percent.
- The total SME contributions to GDP of other regions like Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Muscat stood at 28,20, 14 and 12 percent.
- As per a report was done on Dubai based SME’s by the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED), 47 percent of the Emirates GDP and half of the workforce are based upon Small and Medium-sized business.
- As per state-owned news agency WAM, SME’s were driving force in 2018 to create newer job market, train, provide the generation next on various Artificial intelligence suited modules to create a pool of talented buzzing professionals.
- Despite the slowness in emerging markets Dubai, Abu Dhabi continued to surge ahead as the job market rose from 42 percent to 52.4 percent and the other positive to develop in the financial year was that SME’s overall economic contribution rose to a new high of 55 percent as compared to just 47 percent in 2017.
- As quoted by Sami Al Qamzi, director-general of the DED, “Dubai based SME start-ups and private entities have firmly stood their test of time and fought the regional and global instabilities hard to march ahead with full confidence.
According to Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of Dubai SME, “The extended range of efforts in the form of fruitful past initiatives as well the policies adopted by Dubai SME has been validated as best global practices by a number of international organizations and institutions including the World Bank, United Nations, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.”
Al Janahi also added that Dubai SME will not stop here with these achievements and that they will now focus on providing innovative practices to accelerate the growth of many more SME’s across the region, as well providing quick alternate solutions for challenges facing the SME’s specifically lucrative financing and marketing strategies.
The Gulf and Dubai based Small and India well support medium Enterprises (SME’s) as it has emerged as the leading trading partner at $55 billion which is poised to grow to $100 billion within 2020. In return, India has also attracted many Gulf-based investors to receive an investment intention of up to $52.14 billion-a 25 percent hike than observed as in 2017.
Saudi Arab, Dubai, Muscat, Oman, Sharjah, Qatar have already leased a lot of infrastructural SME’s projects into trade and tax-free zones to attract in more foreign-based investors, boost up the infra, technological space thereby providing in a boost up to overall GDP contribution to rise to 3.8 to 4 percent by 2023.
This way the statistics point out that the Middle Eastern region has now started to diversify and find another formula of success than depending on its core oil and Natural Gas resources. 2019-2023 has already been termed as a digital economic wavefront as the Middle East looks out for the emergence of a strong and improved economy having a high talent pool of individuals.
