Over 2,000 industry leaders and entrepreneurs from across the region to convene at SME Beyond Borders Dubai

Business

Over 2,000 industry leaders and entrepreneurs from across the region to convene at SME Beyond Borders Dubai

Building on last year's success, SME Beyond Borders returns to the UAE for its finest event. The interactive conference will happen in Dubai on Thursday 27 October 2016 at Atlantis, The Palm-- hosted by CPI Business, co-curated by Etisalat and presented by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). With an extraordinary speaker line-up, SME Beyond Borders 2016 is anticipated to bring in over 2,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders from across the GCC and will offer something for everyone through a wide range of topics from SME funding, innovation, the role of social enterprises to gender equality in the workplace.

Discussing their involvement at SME Beyond Borders, Nilanjan Ray, Head of Commercial Banking at NBAD, said, "We believe in SMEs, which is why we continue to invest in them. They account for more than 60 percent of the UAE's GDP and are key chauffeurs behind job creation and financial development in the region. We are proud to have actually supported countless SMEs over the years, be it through financing or through the NBAD SME Academy skills constructing workshops."

SME Beyond Borders intends to educate and influence rising entrepreneurs-- using a platform to connect with investors through Etisalat's Hello Business "Pitch Please!"-- a distinct opportunity for start-ups to give their finest efficiency in front of a professional panel who will be assessing their business design through the strength of their pitch. Exactly what's more, the winner will have an opportunity to pitch to an audience of 2,000 decision makers on the main place phase.

" Platforms such as the SME Beyond Borders are a great method for us to fulfill brand-new SMEs in an entrepreneurial environment, learn about their requirements and share their feedback with our business in order to cater to them best," Nilanjan Ray added.

Commenting on SME Beyond Borders, John Lincoln, Senior Vice President - Small and Medium Businesses (SMB) at Etisalat, said, "SME Beyond Borders 2016 is really an innovative and first-of-its-kind platform that combines a mix of regional and global SMB innovators who are disrupting standard organisation designs. As co-curator and SMB Strategic Partner for this event, we have actually signed up with forces with our partners to support this sector by bringing helpful material to drive incremental value for SMBs. Etisalat's primary goal is to empower start-ups and SMBs with knowledge of global finest practices that will assist increase productivity and profitability."

At the event, Steve Katsaros, Founder and Inventor, Nokero, and Peter Voogd, Founder of Game Changers, will share their key learnings as business owners who struggled and succeeded to get to where they are today. Guests will also have the opportunity to: learn more about social impact in service, at the 'Meet the Transformers' session; explore the topic innovation at the Dubai a Global Agenda session; better understand The Inclusive Agenda for women in the workplace, and more.

There are over 300,000 SMEs in the UAE alone and in positioning with the nation's strategy to empower the private sector, SME Beyond Borders encourages business owners to capitalise on the current market environment and focus on high development sectors. More recently, Expo 2020 Dubai has also promised to commit 20 per cent of its contracts - about AED5 billion - to regional and global SMEs.

The exciting one-day event will start at 9am and will open its doors to investors, SMEs and entrepreneurs from across the region.
To learn more about SME Beyond Borders please register here, http://smebeyondborders.com/, or follow the conversation on social media, using #SMEBeyondBorders #workinprogress.