KHALEEJ TIMES,Wednesday, Jan 12, 2022 | Jamada Al-Aakhirah 9, 1443
Khalifa Fund partners with eBay to support Abu Dhabi SMEs export goods worldwide
Emirates:
The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has partnered with eBay as
the latest partner of the e-Empower initiative, under the Abu Dhabi Inspires
programme.
The partnership aims to further enhance Abu Dhabi’s e-commerce ecosystem, while
also being in alignment with the mandate to diversify the emirate’s economy and
increase non-oil exports to international markets.
The collaborative partnership will see Abu Dhabi based SMEs and medium-large
enterprises gain a variety of benefits to create growth and encourage Abu Dhabi
SMEs to venture into global exportation of their goods and services.
As part of eBay’s involvement with e-Empower, small businesses can expect to
receive a tool box with a guide and best practices to selling on eBay as an
independent seller, 200 free listings, and a unique offer for higher selling
limits. Medium-large enterprises will be eligible to receive a personal training
programme with eBay experts, higher selling limits, complementary eBay store
subscription for a quarter, as well as integration subsidy and marketing
benefits.
Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of
Economic Development and chairman of the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise
Development, stated: "As the leading SME development organisation in the UAE,
Khalifa Fund is constantly looking to establish partnerships with industry
leading entities such as eBay, who will provide invaluable knowledge and an
abundance of resources to e-Empower."
"Khalifa Fund remain committed towards enhancing all aspects of Abu Dhabi’s
entrepreneurial ecosystem, with specific emphasis on providing further support
to the functionalities of international exportation," he said.
He added: "e-Empower has been amongst the most influential and impactful
initiatives that Khalifa Fund has ever launched, with hundreds of hours of
guidance and a vast array of Abu Dhabi companies creating their own e-commerce
stores; now Khalifa Fund are focusing on bringing further support to the
framework in which Abu Dhabi companies can export their goods and trade with the
wider world."
Jenny Hui, GM of Global Emerging Markets at eBay, said: "We are thankful for the
opportunity to cooperate with Khalifa fund to support and grow SMEs in the UAE.
As one of our target markets, we see great potential in the UAE and wish to
assist local SMEs go global and ease their journey. With over 159 million buyers
worldwide in 190 markets and 250 million searches a day, eBay opens the door to
any local business to become a global player. Last year alone, we saw growth of
over 28 per cent of UAE sellers on eBay, and we plan to continue and extend our
support to local businesses, via different growth and support programs
customized for every relevant business."
e-Empower was initially launched in September 2020 with the aim to support Abu
Dhabi entrepreneurs go through the full digitalisation of their businesses and
help their overall ability to thrive in the digital economy. Since its
inception, e-Empower has partnered with Amazon, Amazon Web Services, Akshaak and
noon, which has seen over 1,200 SMEs optimise and develop their own e-commerce
stores.