On January 25th 2017, Al Bawaba reported that Dubai has launched a new ratings system for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the emirate with aims of boost ing their access to capital. The initiative, called Rate SME, is open to all SMEs in Dubai that have a turnover of between Dhs1m to Dhs200m, the framework will rate businesses between B and A+. Companies will be rated on the basis of five factors – business performance (turnover/profit), innovation, corporate governance, international expansion and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The initiative is part of Dubai’s Plan 2021 to to increase the contribution of SMEs to the emirate’s GDP. Currently, about 95 per cent of the companies in Dubai fall under the SME category – amounting to about 190,000. They employ about 42 per cent of the workforce and contribute to 40 per cent of the emirate’s GDP. Through this initiative, SMEs will be able to get access to better financing from banks as well as attract investor interest.
For more information, visit http://www.albawaba.com/business/dubai-introduces-sme-classification-system-support-financing-929604