Expo 2020 Dubai awards 56% of contracts to SMEs
By: Shane McGinley / Arabian Business
SOURCE: Arabian Business - Expo 2020 Dubai awards 56% of contracts to SMEs
Over 26,000 companies from 150 countries have applied to be involved in Expo 2020 Dubai, which opens on October 20, 2020.
Expo 2020 Dubai has awarded over half of all contracted related to the event to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) companies and is on target to meet its goal on awarded a fifth of its budget to this sector, an executive from the organising company confirmed on Wednesday.
“So far we have over 26,000 registered suppliers from one hundred and fifty countries wanting to do business with Expo. 75 percent of those companies are actual SMEs,” Tina Ghanem, director of Expo 2020’s Online Marketplace (OMP), said during a presentation at the Arabian Business Startup Academy in Dubai.
Last November, Expo 2020 announced the launch of OMP, a free-to-use online platform which allows companies from around the world to apply for business opportunities as part of the event, which will run from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
“To date, we have awarded 56 percent of our contracts to small and medium businesses,” Ghanem added.
A representative from Expo 2020 confirmed that over 5,600 contracts have been awarded so far.
On target
Organisers of the event have set a goal of awarding 20 percent of the value of all contracts to SMEs and Ghanem said plans were on target to achieve this.
It was announced earlier this month that Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee, has established a City Readiness Sub-committee to ensure all local and federal entities of the UAE coordinate to deliver an exceptional event.
The sub-committee is led by Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, vice chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee, according to a media statement.
Source: arabianbusiness.com