Economic Zones World (EZW), through its Research and Development arm, TechnoPark’s Dubai Institute of Technology (DIT) will host the region’s first international Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) Forum.

EZW, committed to drive Dubai and the UAE’s economic development, has announced an ambitious initiative to vitalise industrial sector in the region.

The Forum will provide a platform to a high profile gathering of top regional and global industry experts at the event to have a serious dialogue on the prospects and challenges the SMEs face as global economy passes through slowdown.

DIT, in collaboration with the International Network of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (INSME), is organising the event  from April 21 to 23, to provide a more focused thrust on industrial development in the country.

The main aim is to use the Forum as a platform to enable the economy face the current global financial crisis in the most effective manner. TechnoPark, under which DIT functions, is an active member of INSME.

'SMEs make one of the most potential development sectors in the region, and have played a leading role in the UAE’s economic progress,' said Salma Hareb, chief executive officer of Economic Zones World.

'The Free Zones, with their special investment features and incentives have made a huge difference to the operational ease of SMEs.'

'Out of over 6,000 companies in Jebel Ali Free Zone, a large majority are SMEs. This puts EZW in a vital position to seek ways to support the sector. Through DIT, we aim to boost the country’s technology-driven industrial development in energy, high-tech and environmental resource management sectors.'

'The potential of small and medium industries still remains largely under-utilised in the region. A lot more has to be done in terms of technology, skills and capital access,' she added.

The Forum, under the theme “Building a Knowledge-based Eco-system for SMEs: Finance, Innovation, Technology and Networking” will focus on SME Financing, Cross Border Networking, Transnational Technology Transfer, Entrepreneurship & SME Innovation and Intellectual Capital Structure.

The DIT SMEs Forum will also host the 5th INSME Annual Meeting 2009, which will take place on April 21. This will be the first INSME annual meet to be held in the Middle East region.-TradeArabia News Service