IslamicFinance.de

While the UAE Government has launched a number of initiatives this year to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there are still industry executives who say that much more needs to be done – especially when it comes to the nascent Islamic economy. The UAE is especially keen to give Emiratis a chance of helping the economy by starting their own businesses, and a number of big companies are promoting the initiatives by inviting SMEs to be their suppliers. Banks have played their part in recent years as they recovered from the financial crisis of 2008. While criticism against banks for not doing enough to fund SME businesses was justified before the financial crisis, when banks were more focused on financing real estate and retail customers, that is no longer the case.