The Western Region Development Council (WRDC) – the central coordinating body leading development and promoting opportunity in Al Gharbia, Western Region of Abu Dhabi Emirate - has just completed an awareness roadshow in partnership with Khalifa Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises to encourage development of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) across the region. The roadshow was held over a three week period and was part of WRDC's plan to promote entrepreneurship amongst UAE nationals in Al Gharbia. The five sessions, which were held in the cities of Madinat Zayed, Mirfa, Jebel Danat, Dalma Island and Sila, proved to be a great success and attracted over 250 participants wanting to learn and know more about entrepreneurship in the region. The roadshow was part of WRDC's objective to help and encourage SMEs in the region. It was aimed at supporting and boosting entrepreneurship, whilst also demonstrating the business opportunities currently available for SMEs. One of the most encouraging aspects of the roadshow was the overwhelming response from women, who represented nearly 20% of all participants and demonstrated the promising potential female entrepreneurship has for the region. Commenting on the workshops, one of the participants Ms. Aisha Al Hammadi, resident of Dalma Island said: “The awareness session was very beneficial as it brought people interested in investing and doing business together in one room and offered us a great networking opportunity. Such initiatives are important; especially to inform the women of Al Gharbia about the opportunities available for them and to help change perceptions about women at work. I believe every woman who has career or business aspirations should be provided with the right advice and guidance - we need more initiatives like this to help us realise our ambitions.” H.E. Mohamed Bin Azzan Al Mazrouei, WRDC Director General, said: “We believe in providing hands-on advice and active support to the region's people, including residents and those interested in any aspect of the region. The success of the SME roadshow further strengthens this belief and we plan to continue to provide similar opportunities to the residents of the region in the future.” “We are overwhelmed with the response from the participants, and the high turnout of women demonstrates a promising future for female entrepreneurship and SMEs in the region. WRDC now looks forward to organising more sessions in the near future to continue to be an active enabler and problem solver that listens to our residents. Such initiatives are important to the overall economic growth of Al Gharbia. Again, I would like to thank Khalifa Fund for all their support in helping make the programme such a success,” he added. __
