Dubai SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, has extended the last date of registration for the 9th cycle of the Young Entrepreneur Competition (YEC 2013), being held under the patronage His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, to 28 February 2013.
“We extended the time for registration for another month, from 31 January as announced earlier, to allow as many students as possible in the UAE to be part of the event. From the responses we have received from the beginning show students are keen to be part of this competition and put their entrepreneurial skills to test,” said Nisrin Mohammed Al Harmoodi, General Coordinator of YEC.
YEC 2013 aims to inculcate entrepreneurial spirit among students in the public and private secondary schools and universities across the UAE. The competition is an opportunity for participants to test-launch their entrepreneurial ideas and skills in a real world of business and also learn the basic principles of starting and operating a business.
For the first time in its history YEC has been expanded to Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah besides Dubai this year to enable students across the UAE to benefit from the opportunity.
The registration for YEC 2013 will be completed in two stages – online registration on www.yec.ae and attending workshops, which is part of the approval process. Participants will be allowed to amend project data and number of participants after attending the workshops and until they receive the approval on their projects. The workshops, aimed to help the students learn how to develop their concept, team and project will be held in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah after the preliminary phase.
The competition will feature a range of projects spanning fashion, fine arts, handicrafts, traditional or heritage products, health products excluding medicines, environmental awareness products (recycling, renewable energy), educational material (games, tools, modern teaching aids), interior design, cultural activities, and information technology.
For more information on YEC 2013, call 800 SME (763) or email www.yec.ae. YEC 2013 is also on www.facebook.com/yecuae, www.twitter.com/yecuae, and www.youtube.com/yecuae.
