Emirati entrepreneurs and national enterprises in Dubai won contracts worth AED 921.6 million ($250 million) from various local and federal government entities, semi-government bodies and private businesses in 2021 as part of the Government Procurement Programme (GPP).
The value of the contracts was three percent higher than the AED 896.7 million achieved in 2020, according to a report by Dubai SME, one of the agencies of the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) in Dubai.
The report also showed that since 2002, GPP has facilitated contracts worth over AED 8.4 billion for Dubai SME members from 69 supporting entities across the government, semi-government and private sectors.
Under the GPP, government entities and establishments in which the government holds 25 percent or more equity are required to allocate 10 percent of their purchasing to Emirati companies that are members of Dubai SME.
“The success of the Government Procurement Programme is testament to the high priority that the Dubai government places on supporting start-ups,” said Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council.
Since 2002, GPP has secured over 16,934 procurement contracts for 362 Emirati companies in varied sectors. The commercial sector accounted for 83 percent of the contracts, while 13 percent were awarded to companies in the professional sector and 4 percent to industrial firms.
The Crown Prince hailed the role Dubai SME has played in promoting entrepreneurship and start-up growth over the last 20 years, and said that from a pioneering entrepreneurship development program in 2002, Dubai SME has evolved into a comprehensive ecosystem capable of supporting Dubai’s emergence as a center for entrepreneurial innovation in technologies and industries of the future.
Expo 2020 Dubai topped the list of local government support agencies of GPP last year with contracts worth AED 161.7 million, followed by Roads and Transport Authority with AED 95.2 million, Dubai Municipality with AED 44.2 million, Dubai Health Authority with AED 36.5 million, and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority with a value of AED 24.5 million.