The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has set 29 August as the closing date for entries in the fourth edition of the Khalifa Fund Award for Entrepreneurship.
Abdullah Saeed Al Darmaki, CEO of the Khalifa Fund commented: “The entries that have been submitted so far have been truly outstanding in terms of both quality and quantity. Regardless of who is ultimately named as the winner, the biggest winner will be the emirate of Abu Dhabi because all these projects are contributing to a strong culture of creativity, innovation and competitiveness that shapes our economic landscape according to Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030.” There are six categories under the umbrella of this Award: Bedaya program, Zeyada program, Khutwa program, Heritage sector program, Membership program and the Best Emirati Project of Non-beneficiaries of the Fund’s services.
Darmaki explained that the judging panel for the Award is composed of highly respected representatives from the Khalifa Fund, the Department of Economic Development, a leading national bank and a leading economic organization. After the deadline, this panel will scrutinize and evaluate the submissions according to the criteria of each category.
He added: “We are going the extra mile to ensure complete transparency and fairness throughout each stage of the evaluation process. These measures include carefully weighing the merits of each submission according to the criteria, conducting field visits to the entrepreneurs’ premises to validate that the claims in their submissions match the reality on the ground, and interviewing the entrepreneurs to gain deeper insights into their methods, motivations and business philosophies.” Points will be awarded for the entrepreneur’s skills and vision, as well as the project’s pursuit of quality, profitability, growth, expansion and application of best practices in the field.
A grand Award ceremony will be organized by the fund on October 7, while honoring the government agencies that have been most supportive of SME’s based on factors such as the level of procurement allocated to the SME sector. A combination of certificates, shields, souvenirs and cash prizes will be presented.
Darmaki urged all governmental, semi-governmental and private sector organizations to allocate a portion of their purchases to support SME’s in order to ensure continuity in the sector’s growth while simultaneously boosting national prosperity.
Source : WAM
