Contracts totaling $1.8 billion were given to SMEs by Expo 2020 Dubai

Small and medium enterprises received Dh6.8 billion ($1.8 billion) in contracts from Expo 2020 Dubai, exceeding a 2016 commitment to give them at least 20% of direct and indirect spending.

According to the event’s organizers, it accounts for more than a quarter of all contracts issued in terms of value during the big event.

As per the statement, SMEs accounted for 66% of the 3,245 contracts, or 2,150, including 1,390 local enterprises.

The majority of the 760 international SME suppliers are from the United Kingdom (24%), the United States (16%), France (4%), India (4%) and Australia (4%).

Overall, vendors from 94 nations were sourced from outside the UAE, demonstrating the World Expo’s worldwide reach and effect.

Mukhtar Safi, Chief Financial Officer and Deputy CEO of Expo 2020 Dubai, stated that SMEs have always been a priority in their planning since the start of the World Expo journey, honoring His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for his visionary leadership in supporting and empowering SMEs.

The SME sector represents more than 94 % of the total firms in the UAE and employs more than 86 % of the private sector workforce, a Dubai Chamber report released in November 2020 showed.

As of mid-2020, there were 350,000 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the UAE.

Analysts and market experts said in the UAE SMEs are providing jobs for 86 % of the private sector’s workforce which plays a critical role in the country’s economic growth and diversity.

They said SMEs in Dubai alone make up 95% of all its businesses operating in the country, producing 42% of employment opportunities and contributing 40% of the emirate’s gross domestic product (GDP)
Also among these 73% operated in the wholesale and retail sector and 16% in the services sector.