UAE's Khalifa Fund Partners With Majid Al Futtaim To Support Local Entrepreneurs The Khalifa Fund hopes that the tie-up will provide best facilities for local enterprises, and help develop Emiratis' skills and capabilities.

Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, an entrepreneurship and SME development organization in the UAE, has partnered with Majid Al Futtaim Hypermarkets, with an objective of developing the UAE's entrepreneurial culture by supporting local entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the retail major, Khalifa Fund aims to leverage the partnership under which Majid Al Futtaim Hypermarkets will select suppliers from amongst Khalifa Fund members, review their businesses, provide them with the necessary training and awareness, and provide a dedicated space for each supplier to showcase their products in the stores, following standard safety and hygiene procedures.

The overall objective of the partnership, according to a statement, is to "create an appropriate business environment for the supply of fresh food, grocery, light household, textile and electronic products to all hypermarket stores under the Carrefour and Carrefour Market brands." The Khalifa Fund also hopes that the tie-up will provide best facilities for local enterprises, and help develop Emiratis' skills and capabilities.

Commenting on the initiative, Ahmad Khalfan Matar Al Rumaithi, Senior Manager, Entrepreneurship Development - Support & Membership at Khalifa Fund, said, "The agreement aims to enhance our cooperation efforts with the management and operation of leading groups in the UAE by providing facilitation for projects supported by the Fund. We are keen to establish strong relationships with various local economic institutions aimed at contributing to the growth of the local economy and increase penetration to the market."

Philippe Peguilhan the Country Manager of Carrefour UAE at Majid Al Futtaim Retail said that the goal of both entities with this partnership is to focus on "maintaining the highest standards of quality within the retail industry by backing local businesses and projects managed by the [Khalifa] fund."

Here's hoping that the initiative achieves its mission of growing the Emirati business community!

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