KUWAIT : Al Ritaj Investment Company will host the country's first Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Forum to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the rapidly emerging SME segment in Kuwait. Making the announcement at a press conference held at Sheraton Hotel, Managing Director and CEO of Al Ritaj Investment Company Jehad M Al Qabandi highlighted how the forum will enable SMEs to play a key role in strengthening the economic foundation of Kuwait and added that "there are over 30,000 registered SMEs in Kuwait, 85 percent of which are owned by families and individuals."
Myriad
The forum will he held under the auspices of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah on Nov 14th at the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building. A large number of SME entrepreneurs and representatives from myriad sectors as well as veteran international and regional speakers are expected to participate in the forum. "These businesses have an immense potential to emerge as a powerhouse of economic growth from a grassroots level and through the Al Ritaj Investment Small and Medium Enterprises Forum, we seek to enable SMEs to harness this potential by eliminating setbacks such as lack of finance and mismanagement. We believe that the forum, by sheer virtue of its scope of addressing core challenges and prevalent opportunities, will prove to be a key milestone in the promotion of SMEs in Kuwait," noted Al Qabandi.
Discussions at the forum will center around the sharing of ideas on how growth in the sector can be achieved, while exploring new options that can be designed to meet the financial needs of SMEs. Discussions will also touch on the regulatory policies that are hindering advancement and ways to make SMEs more solvent with greater access to venture capital to meet the development challenges of an increasingly competitive regional and international marketplace. While keynote international speaker David Bryon, former Managing Director of UK's successful and largest low cost airline bmibaby, will share his experience in leveraging e-commerce and strategic internet marketing to augment small businesses, renowned regional speaker Professor Brett King, CEO of the American Academy of Financial Managing, will elaborate upon the factors pertinent to managing growth and fostering innovation. Raad Al Essa, Executive Director of Sons of Hamed Yousef Al Essa Trading Company WLL (SHE), will speak about challenges faced by family businesses in Kuwait.
The prevalent challenges and prospects in the local market will also be addressed by Al Ritaj Investment Company's Managing Director and CEO Jehad M Al Qabandi in the concluding session. Additionally, Al Ritaj Investment Company's Chief Investment Officer Yasser M Dib will elucidate the value addition rendered to SMEs while Delta Pharma Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Dr Mohy M Hafez will share the success story of how such strategic consultancy has leveraged Delta Pharma's business objectives. Having recognized the unrealized potential of Kuwaiti SMEs, Al Ritaj Investment Company has been committed to upgrading the strengths of this vital sector, thereby providing business with the know-how, invaluable experience and requisite financial support to compete effectively in the regional and international arena. Al Ritaj Investment Small and Medium Enterprises Forum is the first of a series of industry initiatives by the Kuwait based company in this direction.
Al Ritaj Investment Company is a Kuwaiti closed shareholding company established on June 6, 2006 with a paid up capital of 25 million Kuwaiti Dinars, under the supervision of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK). Some of the prominent shareholders of the company include Al Imtiaz Investment, Security House, Boubyan Petrochemicals and several other companies and institutions. The core business of Al Ritaj is to invest in Small and Medium Enterprises in Kuwait, GCC and MENA region. Al Ritaj is the First Private Equity Investment Company for SMEs in the region that conducts its business according to the principles of Islamic Sharia. In addition to its core business, Al-Ritaj offers a wide rage of services such as Islamic financial products, asset management, advisory services, mergers and acquisitions and placement services for its own products and third party products.
By Abubakar A. Ibrahim
© Arab Times 2007
