UAE Ministry of Economy celebrates the graduation of SkillUp Start entrepreneurship program participants

The Ministry of Economy felicitated 1,500 graduates of the ‘SkillUp Start’ program, which was launched by the Ministry in April 2022 in partnership with the Emirates Foundation for School Education and the global organization for training entrepreneurship skills, Bizworld. The program has two main axes, which are an integrated training program to teach school students basic entrepreneurial skills, and the Future Entrepreneurs competition. The program is part of the initiatives under the SkillUp Academy, which is one of the main tracks of The Entrepreneurial Nation initiative.

The ceremony took place during a virtual event organized by the Ministry and attended by H.E. Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, in the presence of more than 500 male and female students. The winning team of the Future Entrepreneurs Award was announced within the SkillUp Start program competition; where team ‘Dokan’, consisting of students Muhammad Ali Khalifa Dalmouk Al Ketbi, Rashid Saif Rashid bin Khalif Al Tunaiji, Muhammad Saif Rashid bin Khalif Al Tunaiji, Ali Saif bin Mufleh Al Ketbi, Zayed Sultan Saeed Al Tunaiji, won the first place. Team ‘Jabbar’ took second place, consisting of members Ghaya Al-Amri, Ghaya Al-Naqbi, Shema Al Mahri and Saeeda Al-Suwaidi. The third place went to team ‘Be Better,’ which consisted Haya Sheikh, Perchus Gwanga, Elvis Jackson, and Soha Hitish Barot.

The Entrepreneurial Nation

H.E. Bin Touq said that consolidating entrepreneurial culture among young generations is a key priority within the new economic model of the UAE, according to the directives of its wise leadership and in line with the principles of the 50, which place the entrepreneurship sector among the priorities for future economic development. Through The Entrepreneurial Nation initiatives, we are working to bring about a qualitative development in the national entrepreneurship system by providing all the opportunities and capabilities that entrepreneurs need for growth and prosperity. They support their startup plans, and help transform their entrepreneurial ideas into projects on the ground, in cooperation with a wide range of partners from government agencies, the private sector, the educational sector, leading international institutions and companies in this field, to ensure the creation of a new pioneering generation capable of building the future and enhancing the strength of the national economy and consolidating the country’s position as a global destination for entrepreneurship.

He added: “The SkillUp Start program was launched to provide an important addition to our efforts aimed at enabling our students to enter the world of entrepreneurship. Through it, we work to instill pioneering thought among young people and the young generation from an early age, and enable them to acquire basic skills that refine their abilities to create virtual startup companies that mimic the reality of entrepreneurship, and provide solutions and learning opportunities,” noting that national efforts in this direction continue to create a pioneering Successful business in the UAE.

The SkillUp Start program is based on two main axes, the first is to provide activities and trainings to learn the basic skills of entrepreneurship, most notably the skills of how to lead the work team and the mechanisms of establishing the start-up company, and enhance their abilities to work in a team spirit, in addition to gaining experiences on improving the financial culture of projects emerging and managed efficiently and with high quality. The second axis includes a competition for the ideas of pioneering and creative projects for students participating in the program and to support and develop them into successful pioneering projects in the future.

The program witnessed a huge turnout from students with more than 1,500 students across the country from grades eight to twelve of all nationalities participating, in addition to the participation of teachers and volunteers. The participating students received an approved certificate from the Ministry of Economy and the International Organization for Entrepreneurship Skills Training Bizworld, in addition to awarding certificates of honor to teachers and volunteers joining the program, in appreciation of their efforts in training and qualifying students.

With regard to the Future Entrepreneurs competition within the SkillUp Start Program, the Ministry of Economy received more than 160 entrepreneurial project ideas submitted by 500 male and female students participating in the program. Out of these, six projects reached the final stage through well-thought-out criteria that motivate students to submit ideas for successful projects. These included a clear formulation of the project idea, target audience and geographic location, scalability of the project, economic feasibility and feasibility of the project, the extent to which the participating team understands funding requirements, strong and high-level presentation skills, and the ability to teamwork.

The winning team ‘Dokan’ was awarded an educational trip to the United States of America to visit the most famous entrepreneurial hubs such as the Silicon Valley, a number of global company headquarters, and attend joint workshops with elite investors and entrepreneurs there.

The Ministry of Economy launched The Entrepreneurial Nation in November 2021 to provide an integrated national platform aimed at making a qualitative shift in the system of entrepreneurship, startups and small and medium companies in the UAE by developing the supporting environment for them, and through strategic partnerships that are the largest of their kind between the public and private sectors. The Entrepreneurial Nation includes three main programmes, which are the SkillUp Academy, the StartUp Program, and the ScaleUp Support Platform for rapidly growing companies.