For startups in the GCC countries, resilience is more important than efficiency, said UAE Minister Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi during an event in Dubai last month.
At present, Al Falasi is the UAE’s Minister of Education. Before May 22, 2022, he was Minister of State for Higher Education and Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs.
Speaking at the TOP CEO Conference and Awards 2022, Al Falasi had said, “The pandemic has taught us a lot”.
He said that during the pandemic, “We just took about delivering items just in time. We are talking about a very efficient capitalist structure, efficiency in operations, maximizing the value for each company.”
The minister added that having seen not “only the recession” but also the ongoing situation in Russia and Ukraine and that helps in understanding that for companies and startups, “resilience is far more important than efficiency”.
Al Falasi said that there needs to be a balance. He said, “We have to be focused in terms of my customer base, in terms of my capital structures and in terms of my operations.”
The minister also said that the entrepreneur ecosystem in the UAE is growing.
“The entrepreneurship ecosystem in the UAE has really come a long way. It has not yet reached full maturity but we are about 60-70 percent there, far exceeding the region,” he said.
Al Falasi said, “But we are still yet to see a larger number of institutional investing at the very early stage but also at the exits. There are issues with exits as of now. But that is very normal. The system is maturing as we grow.”
He said, “On the culture side as well it is very interesting. We see a lot of interest in being an entrepreneur by existing workers of blue chip companies and also by young graduates.”
Sounding optimistic Al Falasi said that the UAE has would lead the region in entrepreneurship.
He added, “I think that the UAE would continue to excel in the region and would become a hub for entrepreneurs.”