Page 199 - MOE ENGLISH PR REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2024 (Part 2)
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9/20/24, 10:35 AM Bodour Al Qasimi convenes Sheraa’s newly appointed board to build a leading regional hub for entrepreneurship
Among the meeting’s attendees were the respected board members such as H.E. Dr. Muhadditha Yahya Al
Hashimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Private Education Authority; H.E. Ahmed Al Naqbi, CEO of Emirates
Development Bank; Mohammed Khadiri – CEO, Bank of Sharjah; Dr. Saeeda Jaffar – Senior Vice President and
Group Country Manager GCC at Visa; H.E. Eng. Omar Al Mahmoud – CEO of the ICT Fund; Ahmed
AlKhoshaibi – Group CEO of Arada; Fahad Al Hassawi – CEO of Du; Salim Al Owais – CEO of Re.life
(subsidiary of BEEAH Group); Muna Al Gurg – Vice Chairperson of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group; Farida
Elagamy – General Manager of Tharawat and Co-Founder of Kyma; Sonia Weymuller – Founding Partner of
VentureSouq; Leena Khalil – CEO of Mumzworld; Imran Sayeed – Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of
Management; and Abdullah Snobar – Executive Director of DMZ and CEO of DMZ Ventures.
H.E. Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said: “As we strive to position the UAE as a premier
global hub for entrepreneurship by 2031, Sharjah is set to contribute significantly to the achievement of this goal
thanks to its startup ecosystem’s strengths in future sectors. The emirate’s status as a thriving entrepreneurial hub
was once again underlined by the 2024 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) that ranked Sharjah 4th in the
GCC, and 7th in the MENA region’s startup ecosystem rankings. The support offered by Sheraa to enterprises,
including talent and capability building, mentoring, start-up incubation and wide-ranging market access, has
contributed tremendously to this success.”
Her Excellency Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak, Minister of Climate Change and Environment said: “It’s an
honour to join Sheraa’s Board of Advisors and have the opportunity to contribute to the UAE’s thriving
entrepreneurship ecosystem. I would like to thank Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi for
having me on onboard and commend her efforts in leading Sheraa to new heights. Innovation and
entrepreneurship can help forge effective climate solutions and as an entrepreneurship platform, Sheraa can
support and nurture startups that focus on environmental sustainability and climate resilience as well as raising
climate awareness. I look forward to more projects offering climate friendly solutions and addressing critical
challenges such as clean energy, biodiversity loss, securing food systems, waste management among others,
leading the UAE towards a sustainable future.”
The session provided a platform for discussing Sheraa’s current strategic positioning and offerings, with initial
feedback sought on how to advance its mission of growing Sharjah’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. The meeting
included a comprehensive presentation led by Sara Al Nuaimi followed by strategic discussions.
Sharjah’s growing global appeal as a vibrant startup hub has been recently highlighted by the Global Startup
Ecosystem Report (GSER). Their 2024 ‘top startup ecosystem’ rankings has placed Sharjah 4th in GCC and 7th
in the wider MENA region.
As the major engine fueling these achievements, Sheraa has trained and upskilled a talented community of over
18,000 entrepreneurial youth, supported a comprehensive ecosystem of over 420 startups including over 180
incubated ventures that have raised over $171 million in funding, generated over $248 million in revenue, and
created well over 1,900 jobs, contributing to the UAE’s national economy. Moreover, Sheraa’s flagship event,
the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival (SEF) has solidified the emirate’s reputation as a premier hub for talent,
drawing over 30,000 changemakers from around the globe across its seven editions.
-ENDS-
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