‘Business Start-Up Centre’ opens at KidZania

Dubai SME opens ‘Business Start-Up Centre’ at KidZania® to promote entrepreneurship among children

Dubai SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, has opened a ‘Business Start-Up Centre’ at KidZania, the award-winning interactive edutainment centre managed by Emaar Retail at The Dubai Mall, to familiarise children with the concept of business and entrepreneurship.

The new facility will allow children between the ages of four to 16 learn the basic principles of starting and growing a business and set up their own ‘businesses’ in the safe and unique educational environment available at KidZania®. Children can work on their business plans and issue their own trade licenses at the Business Start-Up Centre.

Dubai SME is extending the facility to KidZania® as part of promoting entrepreneurship among children of all age groups. The Business Start-Up Centre will also enable the children to participate in the Young Entrepreneur Competition organised by Dubai SME to inculcate entrepreneurial spirit among school and university students across the UAE.

Abdul Baset Al Janahi, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai SME, commented: “We are happy to partner with a leading edutainment centre like KidZania® as part of our efforts to spread awareness on what it takes to be an entrepreneur. The partnership provides us an additional channel to connect with the entrepreneurial talent in the country.”

Al Janahi added: “Dubai SME has various innovative programmes aimed to identify entrepreneurial talent and support existing and future entrepreneurs achieve their goals. For example, out Intelaaq programme for home-based businesses is a convenient option for people to be entrepreneurs. We will continue to work with KidZania® to help children understand about Dubai SME and entrepreneurship.”

Maitha Al Dossari, Chief Executive Officer of Emaar Retail, said: “It is our honour to welcome Dubai SME’s Business Start-up Centre at KidZania®, which will enable our young visitors to gain strong insights on Dubai’s entrepreneurial culture. The Centre will inspire them to pursue their dreams with the confidence that our leadership has set the strong platform for them to achieve their fullest potential.

“One of the key contributors to Dubai’s economy, SMEs are also significant for their job creation potential and their ability to promote innovation. The new Centre further highlights the strong public and private partnerships that KidZania® promotes to ensure that our visitors have a thorough understanding and hands-on knowledge about all aspects of a fully functioning economy,” she added.

Welcoming the new initiative, Mohammed Shael Al Saadi, Chief Executive Officer of the Business Registration & Licensing (BRL) sector in DED pledged all support for educating children on licensing procedures and the legal steps involved. “We will help children to advance through the different stages in business registration and get their licenses issued.”

Located on level 2 of The Dubai Mall, KidZania® enables little ones to discover their dreams, as they enact over 80 roles including that of pilots, doctors, healthcare professionals, civil defense personnel, police officers, reporters, photographers, engineers, fashion designers, and artists, among others.

KidZania® provides a safe, unique and very realistic educational environment that allows kids to do what comes naturally to them: role-playing by mimicking traditionally ‘adult’ activities. It features offices, a university, fire station, race track, radio station, pizzeria, hospital, bank, theatre, among others, all scaled down to a smaller, child-friendly size. Children dress up in real-life uniforms and perform realistic professional tasks in a fun and meaningful way.