The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai has announced that its contracts with the emirate’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in 2020 reached $27.4 million, with a total of $90.9 million in the last three years.
The RTA reaffirmed its support for national businesses linked to Dubai SMEs. The Government Procurement Program reflects this support, and concessions provided in contractual procedures for various RTA-required projects and services.
Contracts between RTA and Dubai SMEs amounted to $32.3 million in 2018, $31 million in 2019, and $27.4 million in 2020, for a total of $91 million in contracts. It also honored Dubai’s small businesses as part of an annual event awarding three categories of entities engaged with the RTA namely outsourcing firms, vendors and investors.
Saeed Al Marri Director Contracts & Procurement RTA
“The RTA is one of the leading government entities in supporting the business of national enterprises affiliated to Dubai SMEs since 2014. Once again, it was the top supporter of Dubai SMEs through the Government Procurement Program. It has now maintained this position for the third time running (2018-2020).”
Mr. Al Marri also commented on the authority’s efforts and initiatives in support of Dubai SMEs in the first half of this year, stating that the authority gave concessions to Dubai SMEs and invited them to participate in the release of various tenders. Those enterprises were given three contracts and 34 purchase orders.
RTA developed a plan involving seven projects and seven aspects in order to support Dubai SMEs. It formed an internal team to support Dubai SMEs, excluding all affiliated enterprises from initial guarantees of contracts and services worth less than $136,121 while keeping final guarantees, and designating projects to SMEs in such a way that the list of invitees would be limited exclusively to them.
The RTA also eliminated 50 percent of the bidding expenses for Dubai SMEs and it established a dedicated communication channel to assist them in screening their needs and providing all available services.
During the annual vendor felicitation event, the RTA was voted the best agency or sector for supporting Dubai SMEs. During the annual event of honoring the best vendors, it also introduced an effort to recognize companies, such as subcontractors, that conducted the highest number of transactions with Dubai SMEs.
