SME BEYOND BORDERS
Session Four: The SME Academy The SME Academy has been created to provide very real-world solutions for SMEs in need of core skills-building. The reality is that while the SME sector currently delivers 62 per cent of UAE GDP, if it is to deliver the power and speed of growth required by documents such as the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, many SMEs are in urgent need of more basic skills in key operational areas. Yet while everyone keeps telling SMEs that they need more skills, more structure, more credibility and more strategy, until recently, very few entities were doing anything about it. The figures tell a worrying story • 27 per cent of SMEs don’t have any form of company accounts • SMEs in the GCC are only half as productive as those in Singapore and the USA • 80 per cent of SMEs in the UAE don’t understand the need for Corporate Governance
SME Advisor combined forces with a market leader in the SME universe, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and created an innovative solution for the practical, day to day needs of the region’s SMEs: the SME Academy. The SME Academy is a one-stop online resource combined with a series of practical workshops. It’s designed to supercharge business performance by giving hands-on guidance where it will make a difference to the bottom line. This session not only introduces the role and track record of the SME Academy since its pilot launch in September, but looks more deeply at the role of education in the SME space and the need to encourage businesses across the region to build core management skills. There is not only a keynote head-to-head with a noted billionaire who has become a major funder of schools and colleges, but we hear from the world’s leading customer service guru about how businesses can learn the best and most practical skill of all - how to please a customer.
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Mohan Valrani Senior Vice Chairman, Al Shirawi Group
Ron Kaufman World-renowned customer service guru
www.smeadvisor.com