Honoring 11 federal entities and national companies for their support of small and medium enterprises in the Emirates

Dubai, 9 February / WAM / During the second edition of the National Forum for Small and Medium Enterprises – Government Procurement 2026, the Ministry of Economy and Tourism honored 11 federal agencies and national companies, in appreciation of their outstanding efforts in supporting Emirati small and medium enterprises and providing opportunities to obtain government contracts and tenders during the year 2025, which contributes to strengthening the government procurement system and supports the development of national entrepreneurship.

The honor included the distribution of government procurement awards, which were awarded to the following national entities and companies: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, the Ministry of Health and Community Protection, the Federal Tax Authority, the Emirates Health Services Corporation, Etihad Airways, the Emirates Telecommunications Group (E&), the Higher Colleges of Technology Complex, and the United Arab Emirates University.

In this context, His Excellency Abdullah Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, confirmed that this honor comes within the Ministry’s vision to motivate federal agencies and national companies to facilitate the access of Emirati small and medium enterprises to available contractual opportunities, and to provide the necessary facilities for them to enter government procurement tenders.

The Ministry has identified five categories for government procurement awards for small and medium enterprises, which are: the first is the category of the best donors to government procurement, the second is the category of the best entity in terms of growth in the value of contracts awarded, the third is the category of the best entity in terms of the number of beneficiary projects, the fourth is the category of the best entity in achieving the 10% target in awarding contracts to small and medium enterprises, and the fifth and final is the category of the best procurement managers.

Five federal entities and national companies won the award for the Best Donors for Government Procurement category: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, the Emirates Health Services Corporation, Etihad Airways, and the Emirates Telecommunications Group (E&).

The Ministry of Justice and the United Arab Emirates University also won the award for the best entity in the growth in the value of contracts awarded, as the two entities achieved strong growth results during the year 2025 in government procurement contracts awarded to small and medium enterprises.

In addition, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and the Federal Tax Authority won the award for the best entity in achieving the 10% target in awarding contracts to small and medium enterprises.

The Ministry of Health and Community Protection won the award for the best entity in the number of beneficiary small projects, in recognition of its role in expanding the base of national small and medium enterprises benefiting from government procurement contracts and tenders.

In the Best Purchasing Managers category award, His Excellency Brigadier General Abdullah Suhail Al-Afari, Director of the Purchasing and Warehouses Department at the Ministry of Interior, won; Hamad Abdullah, Head of the Procurement and Contracts Department at the Federal Tax Authority, testified: Dr. Mubarak Al Hammadi, Director of Procurement and Contracts Department at the Emirates Health Services Corporation; Saeed Al Zarouni, Chief Procurement Officer of E&G Group; And Mohamed Samak, Director of Purchasing and Contracts Department at the Higher Colleges of Technology Complex.

The Ministry of Economy and Tourism selected the government agencies, national companies, and individuals who won the government procurement awards based on a set of criteria approved within the index for supporting small and medium enterprises in the government procurement system, ensuring the highest levels of transparency and fairness in measuring performance and impact at the state level.

The Ministry explained that the criteria for government agencies to obtain these awards depend on four main axes, including the percentage of contracts awarded to small and medium enterprises out of the total tenders offered, the annual growth rate in the value of tenders or contracts awarded, awareness initiatives and the extent of cooperation of the procurement department in the entity, in addition to the number of small and medium enterprises benefiting from those contracts.

With regard to honoring government procurement managers, the winners were selected according to four main criteria, which included creating solutions or practices that support the participation of small and medium enterprises, the level of cooperation with other parties and stakeholders in the procurement system, the extent of effective participation in the National Forum for Small and Medium Enterprises and related initiatives and knowledge exchange, in addition to contributing to enhancing integration and coordination between the agencies concerned with government procurement.

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, launched the Index of Support for Small and Medium Enterprises in Government Procurement, to measure the extent of federal authorities’ commitment to the percentages stipulated in Federal Law No. 2 of 2014, which includes 10% of the total value of government contracts and tenders for members of the National Program for Small and Medium Enterprises, and 5% of the total contracts and tenders of government companies in which the federal government owns 25% or more of the capital.

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