An initiative by Tejari, the UAE's leading online trading site, and Dubai Economic Development (DED), which began in January 2007, has so far resulted in about 10,000 businesses being e-enabled.
This represents about 10 per cent of Dubai's registered businesses. The community, known as Mylink Dubai, has over 100,000 members and the aim is to ensure they are all e-ready in 2010. The initiative is now being taken global.
To undertake the Mylink Dubai initiative, Tejari and DED recruited 55 interns to bring new skills and greater online knowledge to the business community of Dubai. Tejari's CEO, Omar Hijazi said these interns are working with small, medium and large private enterprises and public sector departments to demonstrate the benefits of e-commerce and give practical advice on how to succeed in the global knowledge economy. The interns, known as eVolunteers, are activating more than 60 businesses a day on average.
The eVolunteers internship programme brings a corporate social responsibility (CSR) dimension to the Tejari initiative, explained Hijazi. Teaming up with a number of universities throughout the UAE, the internship programme is the largest of its kind in the region. 'The impact from the youth point of view has been fantastic,' he said. The universities involved in the programme include Al Ain University, The University of Wollongong in Dubai, American University in Dubai and Dubai University. The students can participate either on a part time or full time basis.
Following the success of the DED-Tejari venture, interns have started to activate other trading communities. One of them is Made-In-the-UAE, a partnership with the UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry and Dubai e-Government aimed at the manufacturing community. There is also Jafzalink, a community designed for businesses in the Jebel Ali Free Zone made up of about 5,500 businesses, and RAKTrade. This community is aimed at the 3,500 companies in the Ras Al Khaimah Free Zone, and so far 30 to 40 per cent of the community has been activated, said Hijazi. In 2006, Tejarilink also activated a community that enables all companies to buy and sell online in the global network.
The success of the internship programme in the UAE has encouraged Tejari to take it global. Tejari, which has a presence in 15 countries, will be launching the programme in China, Egypt, Bangladesh and Pakistan, said Hijazi. In China, for example, Tejari operates Shanghai Mart, the largest trading community of suppliers in Shanghai with 2,500 members, This creates 'a direct online bridge between the Middle East and China to business-to-business transactions,' he said.
To co-ordinate the efforts across all the countries, a centralised operations centre staffed primarily with interns will be set up. The centre will support activations and business matching across the global network, Hijazi said. It would co-ordinate with local offices to have new members set up their online showrooms as well as to help generate enquiries on buy and sell trade leads, find suppliers on zero-bid auctions, match suppliers to tender notices and facilitate cross-border trading, he explained.
In terms of 'e-readiness maturity', the UAE ranks 33rd in the world according to data compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The Tejari initiative aims to push the UAE higher up the e-readiness rankings.
In 2007, business-to-business (B2B) transactions in the region accounted for some 1 to 1.5 per cent of GDP, said Hijazi, adding that this figure is 'slightly higher in the UAE'. Encouraging consumers to buy online has been much harder, however. Source
This represents about 10 per cent of Dubai's registered businesses. The community, known as Mylink Dubai, has over 100,000 members and the aim is to ensure they are all e-ready in 2010. The initiative is now being taken global.
To undertake the Mylink Dubai initiative, Tejari and DED recruited 55 interns to bring new skills and greater online knowledge to the business community of Dubai. Tejari's CEO, Omar Hijazi said these interns are working with small, medium and large private enterprises and public sector departments to demonstrate the benefits of e-commerce and give practical advice on how to succeed in the global knowledge economy. The interns, known as eVolunteers, are activating more than 60 businesses a day on average.
The eVolunteers internship programme brings a corporate social responsibility (CSR) dimension to the Tejari initiative, explained Hijazi. Teaming up with a number of universities throughout the UAE, the internship programme is the largest of its kind in the region. 'The impact from the youth point of view has been fantastic,' he said. The universities involved in the programme include Al Ain University, The University of Wollongong in Dubai, American University in Dubai and Dubai University. The students can participate either on a part time or full time basis.
Following the success of the DED-Tejari venture, interns have started to activate other trading communities. One of them is Made-In-the-UAE, a partnership with the UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry and Dubai e-Government aimed at the manufacturing community. There is also Jafzalink, a community designed for businesses in the Jebel Ali Free Zone made up of about 5,500 businesses, and RAKTrade. This community is aimed at the 3,500 companies in the Ras Al Khaimah Free Zone, and so far 30 to 40 per cent of the community has been activated, said Hijazi. In 2006, Tejarilink also activated a community that enables all companies to buy and sell online in the global network.
The success of the internship programme in the UAE has encouraged Tejari to take it global. Tejari, which has a presence in 15 countries, will be launching the programme in China, Egypt, Bangladesh and Pakistan, said Hijazi. In China, for example, Tejari operates Shanghai Mart, the largest trading community of suppliers in Shanghai with 2,500 members, This creates 'a direct online bridge between the Middle East and China to business-to-business transactions,' he said.
To co-ordinate the efforts across all the countries, a centralised operations centre staffed primarily with interns will be set up. The centre will support activations and business matching across the global network, Hijazi said. It would co-ordinate with local offices to have new members set up their online showrooms as well as to help generate enquiries on buy and sell trade leads, find suppliers on zero-bid auctions, match suppliers to tender notices and facilitate cross-border trading, he explained.
In terms of 'e-readiness maturity', the UAE ranks 33rd in the world according to data compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The Tejari initiative aims to push the UAE higher up the e-readiness rankings.
In 2007, business-to-business (B2B) transactions in the region accounted for some 1 to 1.5 per cent of GDP, said Hijazi, adding that this figure is 'slightly higher in the UAE'. Encouraging consumers to buy online has been much harder, however. Source
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