The region's first international Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Forum will be held in Dubai on April 21-23 at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers to provide a more focused thrust on industrial development. Economic Zones World (EZW) announced on Monday an ambitious initiative to vitalize the industrial sector in the region. EZW, through its Research and Development arm, TechnoPark's Dubai Institute of Technology (DIT), will host the forum. It will provide a platform to high profile gathering of top regional and global industry experts at the event to have a serious dialogue on the prospects and challenges the SMEs face as global economy passes through slowdown. The main aim is to use the forum as a platform to enable the economy face the current global financial crisis in the most effective manner. Salma Hareb, chief executive officer of Economic Zones World, said the DIT SMEs Forum is one of our major initiatives planned for 2009 aiming at stimulating industrial activities in the region to support steady economic progress even in times of financial slowdowns. “The time has come for more targeted initiatives to make the economy even more resistant to crises. SMEs make one of the most potential development sectors in the region, and have played a leading role in the UAE's economic progress. The free zones, with their special investment features and incentives have made a huge difference to the operational ease of SMEs. Out of over 6,000 companies in Jebel Ali Free Zone, a large majority are SMEs. This puts Economic Zones World in a vital position to seek ways to support the sector.” “Through DIT, we aim to boost the country's technology-driven industrial development in energy, high-tech and environmental resource management sectors. The SMEs forum reflects this,” she said. “The potential of small and medium industries still remains largely under-utilized in the region. A lot more has to be done in terms of technology, skills and capital access.” __
