UAE rated high for supporting start-ups

The UAE has achieved significant progress in promoting an enabling environment for start-up businesses and entrepreneurial activities, ranking 25th among 42 countries, up from 41st position in 2006, according to the UAE-Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2007 Report.

The country was rated first among 42 countries for hosting start-ups that have 25 per cent to 75 per cent of customers from overseas markets (export or re-export).

The UAE has also moved up from 29th to 17th position for the number of start-up businesses that took off in 2007, underlining robust business and development activity through last year.

The UAE-GEM Report 2007 was sponsored by the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders for the second year.

Akil Kazim, director of operations for the establishment, said: "We are glad to introduce the GEM Report UAE 2007 as a valuable informative reference to all stakeholders concerned with entrepreneurship in our country. This year's edition of the UAE-GEM Report is a comprehensive study that presents incisive information on the entrepreneurship landscape of the UAE.

"Through identifying key drivers and challenges facing small and medium enterprise, the report provides clear guidelines for policymakers on the necessary steps for enhancing entrepreneurship across the country." The report also highlighted entrepreneurs in the UAE are faced with impediments such as bureaucracy, inflation, lack of funding, inconsistent information and soaring operation costs.

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