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Dubai SME and IFC's workshop [SME Advisor Middle East](SME Advisor Middle East Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dubai SME and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, hosted a workshop to help Dubai SME100 companies understand the concept of corporate governance, and how to implement it in line with their stage of growth. During the workshop The two-day workshop addressed challenges that limit SME growth and profitability, with a focus on family-owned businesses. SMEs contribute significantly to economic growth and employment generation in MENA, where family-owned businesses are a common business model. In Dubai, they constitute around 95 per cent of all businesses and contribute to almost 40 per cent of the economy's value-add and 42 per cent of the workforce. The session highlighted key topics such as forming advisory boards and board of directors, management control and risk management. Attendees also enjoyed valuable insights on relevant best practices and the pivotal role of corporate governance in fostering stakeholder trust and sustained growth. Abdul Baset Al Janahi, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai SME, commented: "We are delighted to partner with IFC, an esteemed global institution, to organise the Corporate Governance workshop for SMEs. Our SME participants found it extremely enriching, yet practical, to implement initiatives befitting their stage of development. Many SMEs which had attended the earlier workshop have implemented plans to be more corporate governance-ready, and are benefitting from it." The workshop was part of a regional IFC initiative that aims to help small and medium businesses improve performance and profitability, and is funded by Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. "Corporate governance is key to sustaining private sector led growth and a regional priority for IFC," said Deepak C. Khanna, Head of IFC in the UAE. "By becoming more transparent and efficient, companies find it easier to attract investors and capture profitable growth opportunities." Launched under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, Dubai SME100 identifies the top-performing SMEs in Dubai to help groom them into bigger and more sustainable enterprises, and support them through their growth into larger, internationally-oriented companies. Post-ranking, the SMEs will be exposed to areas of professional development that will help them move to the next level. (c) 2014 Corporate Publishing International. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |