Sharjah, UAE— Ruwad, or the Sharjah Foundation to Support Pioneering Entrepreneurs (Ruwad), has approved the financing of three projects after studying the feasibility of 15 requests for funding in various sectors between April and June.
Sultan Abdullah bin Hadda Al Suwaidi, Chairman of the Sharjah Economic Development Department, praised the facilities and exemptions provided by government institutions to small and medium enterprises that played a key role in motivating them to establish further commercial, service and industrial projects which contribute to developing Sharjah’s economy.
For his part, Hamad Ali Abdullah Al Mahmoud, Director of Ruwad, affirmed that the second quarter of this year witnessed a great interaction by entrepreneurs with the initiatives and projects implemented by the foundation, and a remarkable demand for obtaining its various services.
“In light of the growing interest in establishing individual and group projects and benefiting from the facilities provided by Ruwad and government institutions for UAE citizens wishing to enter the private sector, and expand projects that enhance the country’s competitiveness in the entrepreneurial sector. He noted that the purchases of government agencies from members of the foundation during the second quarter of this year exceeded the amount of AED968,000.”
He explained that the number of projects whose owners applied for the Ruwad membership in the second quarter of this year amounted to 102 projects, of which 66 were approved, while the total number of projects that were approved to renew their membership for the second or third year reached 69 projects, as they were exempted from all government fees.
The foundation also approved to extend the membership of 14 projects for the fourth or fifth year with exemption from half of the government fees.
As for the classification of projects according to the type of activity, the food sector topped the list of projects that obtained the Ruwad membership during the second quarter of 2023, with 26 projects constituting a rate of 39.4 percent.
It was followed by the design and sewing of women’s fashion, and the number reached 6 projects with a rate of 9.1 percent, in addition to 5 projects in the field of beauty centers (7.6 percent), and 4 projects in the car maintenance sector (6.1 percent), and 3 projects in the field of trading flowers and natural plants.
Two projects in the field of law firms and fitness clubs (3 percent), and the rest of the projects came in various fields such as restaurant management, perfume and perfume trade, gift trade, mobile phone trade, security and safety systems trade, order delivery services, advertising, stationery, and others (1.5 percent for each activity).