Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a top-tier Islamic financial services institution, sponsored the UAE’s 1st Entrepreneurship Awareness Day organised by the students of Business & Economics at the UAE University in Al Ain, with Dr Binta Abubakar & Colleagues. The event featured a Business Plan competition for junior students and the Best Business Idea competition for senior graduate students. At the event, ADIB Business presented to the audience the challenges faced by the Small and Medium Enterprises industry. According to ADIB, UAE’s SME sector comprises of more than 200,000 businesses of which only 2% benefit from financing by UAE banks. Besides the lack of financial support from banking and financial institutions, other challenges facing SME growth include easy access to the right financial advice and an overall lack of dedicated services. ADIB also pointed out that SMEs contribute to 50 per cent of the UAE’s GDP and approximately 85 per cent of its employment opportunities. This is as per average contributions of the SME sector globally. SMEs are the backbone of any flourishing economy and usually contribute to about half of its GDP. The strategic objective of ADIB Business Banking is to support the UAE’s SME sector and to meet their growing demands for more Shari’ah inspired and customized banking. It furthers the bank’s expansion strategy of increasing its customer segments while at the same time it contributes to the growth of SME sector. A one-stop shop, ADIB Business services are offered through dedicated Relationship Managers and platforms at six business hubs in the UAE. Its products include ADIB Business Current Accounts, Transactional Services, Business Savings Account, Business Time Deposit, Business Wakala Deposit, Small Business Finance, Business Fleet Finance, Business Asset Finance, Business Working Capital Finance, Trade Finance and Business Covered Cards. Its dedicated platforms for customer service include phone banking, Internet banking, SMS and IVR. The Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) at United Arab Emirate University has been offering business programs since 1977, and was the first to be accredited by AACSB (the Association to Advance of Collegiate Schools of Business - the number one international accrediting body of business education) on the undergraduate level in 2000. The Faculty maintained its accreditation in 2009 and is now AACSB accredited throughout MBA and doctoral DBA level as well. FBE’s Department of Business Administration includes a Specialisation in Entrepreneurship, and offers courses in finance, accounting, entrepreneurship, statistic, marketing, economic and information system From / Gulf Today