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UAE aims to have 2mln firms by 2031; focus on startups

The UAE aims to increase the number of companies in the country to more than two million by 2031, Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism, has said.

He affirmed that startups and entrepreneurs constitute a fundamental pillar in the UAE’s economic growth journey.

In statements to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of the press conference announcing the details of the national campaign 'The Emirates: The Startup Capital of the World', Al Marri added that the UAE also aims to see 10 unicorns emerge during the same period, with about five unicorn companies having already originated from the country.

He pointed out that the campaign supports these national goals by providing an enabling environment that empowers youth to launch their entrepreneurial ventures and achieve growth and expansion.

He explained that the UAE possesses comprehensive strategies that encompass economic clusters, food security, economic openness through Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements, as well as strategies for innovation and intellectual property protection, affirming the readiness of the national infrastructure to support the growth of startups at both the federal and local levels.

He noted that the UAE today hosts more than 1.2 million companies, of which around one million are owned by entrepreneurs, representing nearly 94% of the total. This, he emphasised, reflects the pivotal role of entrepreneurs in strengthening the national economy.

The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contributed 63.5% to the non-oil GDP of the national economy by mid-2022, while SMEs account for 95% of the total number of companies operating in the UAE markets.