The new effort, called Rise, is being launched by the bank’s Business Banking division. In a statement, the bank said it reflected the division’s aim of functioning as a catalyst for growth for SMEs.
The support it will offer SMEs will include a “knowledge library” for business management, business networking and exchanging opportunities, and “inspirational” success stories.
Suvo Sarkar, general manager of retail banking at Emirates NBD, said the bank believed that SMEs needed nurturing and support in order to be able to compete globally.
Small businesses, he added, are “engines of economic growth and vital contributors to the country’s GDP”, and thus deserving of Emirates NBD’s “all-embracing support”.
Initiative welcomed
Dubai SME is an agency of Dubai’s Department of Economic Development. Its chief executive officer, Abdul Baset Al Janahi, said the Rise initiative would be “instrumental in creating a multi-faceted online community that will provide ready support, mentoring and guidance for UAE-based SMEs".
According to data provided by Emirates NBD, the UAE is home to more than 230,000 small and medium-sized companies that together contribute more than 40% to the country’s GDP, and employ in excess of 42% of its workforce.
To see the new Rise website, click here.
Earlier initiative
Last year, Emirates NBD attracted media attention – along with, it is safe to bet, some new accounts – when it embarked on another initiative, this one aimed at getting its customers to save more.
Clients who reached certain savings targets or opened new accounts would, the bank said, be eligible to win the 7kgs of gold, a BMW X6 or a Lamborghini.
