Nahyan bin Mubarak opens 'National Network for Business Incubators' forum 

Sheikh Nahyan said that "Under the wise leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has always stressed economic and human development as the foundation for progress and prosperity and investing the capabilities of Emirati youth, national development and growth are two of the country’s most important priorities, as His Highness believes that individuals endowed with initiative are a force for economic development and prosperity in our country, within the region, and throughout the world.

“With His Highness’s guidance and support, Sandooq Al Watan is honoured to be part of this important national quest to empower entrepreneurs in our country, and we take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude and respect to His Highness. His leadership has created an environment in our country that sustains vigorous entrepreneurial activities. With his guidance and leadership, the United Arab Emirates is indeed the land of the entrepreneur.”

This came during the opening of the "National Network for Business Incubators" forum, organised by Sandooq Al Watan in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, and all business incubators in the country.

The conference was attended by Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy; Abdullah Al Saleh, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, and Afra Al Sabri, Director-General of the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, in addition to a number of international and local experts, specialists and academics.

The forum sessions focused on addressing all the challenges facing national business incubators, as included in Sandooq Al Watan’s study, including the know how to establish, manage and operate incubators to maximise results, improve market access, simplify access to talents, enhance access to finance, and share resources.

Sandooq Al Watan will facilitate the establishment of the National Incubator Network that will encourage collaboration and exchange of ideas and experiences in key areas that make startups more successful. It will be an important vehicle for networking and sharing of ideas, experience, and best practice. It will provide ways to communicate the work of business incubators with graduates and businesses in order to build productive associations within the country and across borders.

In his opening speech, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak said, "The first forum of Sandooq Al Watan on entrepreneurship and supporting citizens who wish to launch their own companies, aims to support many business incubators already existing in the UAE, and assist them in achieving their goals through appropriate advice, assistance, funding and training and provide the necessary climate for sustainable success. Sandooq Al Watan will facilitate the establishment of the National Incubator Network that will encourage collaboration and exchange of ideas and experiences in key areas that make startups more successful. It will be an important vehicle for networking and sharing of ideas, experience, and best practice. It will provide ways to communicate the work of business incubators with graduates and businesses in order to build productive associations within the country and across borders”.

He added that the National Incubator Network has the potential to increase and rationalise the flow of startups from universities to commercial incubators. “It has the potential to improve the performance of new companies and startups. It will help promote the very best thinking and practices about entrepreneurship everywhere. And it will make it easier for entrepreneurs to navigate the sometimes-complex entrepreneurial environment. The National Incubator Network will help to identify useful strategies that will establish entrepreneurship as a major force of economic and social change in our country. It will help raise awareness of the relevance of entrepreneurship to our future. This includes showcasing successful startups, undertaking media campaigns, establishing awards and competitions, creating clubs and mentorships,” he added.

Sheikh Nahyan explained that the National Incubator Network will help in strengthening all these areas. “The ultimate goal, of course, is to support the young people in our country. By establishing this network, we declare to the rest of the world that our new generation of entrepreneurs are thinking, creating, daring, and proactive. We declare to the world that this is an exciting time to be an entrepreneur in the United Arab Emirates. And we act on our conviction that much more can be achieved if the country’s business incubators combine their efforts, share their knowledge, and expand their reach, to increase their impact.

He expressed his confidence that this network will meet all aspirations, and support the inculcation of entrepreneurial thinking and its importance in improving the quality of life for all.”

The first session "Challenges facing incubators and how to secure appropriate results?”, touched on the motives that led to the establishment of the network. The participants presented the most important typical expectations and whether they are in line with skills and capabilities. The session presented different operating models, on how to finance the incubator, recruit employees and manage it, how to measure performance and the effects on its daily operations.

The second session “Market Access” discussed the challenges of dealing with customers, competing companies and the field of work, in an attempt to better understand companies in terms of ambitions, expectations and requirements. It also discussed the importance of simplifying the path for any startup to reach the right customer at the right time, offering specific accelerator programmes for the industry and initiating partnerships, in addition to offering a variety of ways to reach markets.

The third session “General and Specialised Purpose Incubator (Industry or Technology)” dealt with the increase in number of incubators, making the work environment more complex. Every company or incubator should seek excellence, and create added value.

The session also raised a question on “The logic behind more relying on the technology industry?” and “What are the most mature ecosystems for this area?”.

The attendees touched on the fields of healthcare and robotics as promising areas, while discussing the most important challenges and main priorities to break into these fields.