RUWAD approves funding for 2 new projects worth AED 800,000

This came during the 40th meeting of the Foundation’s Project Funding Committee – the first of 2026 – held last week at the Department’s headquarters under the chairmanship of His Excellency Hamad Ali Abdullah Al Mahmoud, Chairman of the Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD).

The meeting was attended by committee members Saeed Ghanem Al Suwaidi, Faisal Jassim Al Madfa’a, and Dr Muddathir Abdullah, alongside Fatima Al Ali, Acting Director of the Foundation and Chair of the Technical Committee for Project Funding, and committee members Nasser Al Owais and Advisor Rashid Swaqad.

At the start of the meeting, His Excellency Hamad Ali Abdullah Al Mahmoud praised the committee’s efforts during 2025, which saw eight meetings held, emphasising the importance of continuing to provide all means of support and funding for national small and medium enterprises, thereby enhancing economic development and contributing to the diversification and competitiveness of activities and services across all sectors in the Emirate.

During the meeting agenda, attendees reviewed the status of the financing ceiling allocated for 2025, as well as a summary of the approved funding decisions during the past year, which totalled 21 approvals amounting to AED 6 million. Of these, 19 approvals were through the direct funding programme with a value of AED 4.3 million, and two approvals were via bank financing amounting to AED 1.7 million.

The Technical Committee for Project Funding also reviewed the list of new projects submitted for funding, as well as a number of reconsideration requests for projects that had not been approved in previous meetings, and made the appropriate decisions regarding them.

The committee decided to fund two new projects in the Emirate. The first project received direct funding from the Foundation amounting to AED 100,000, while the second project received approval for indirect funding of AED 700,000 through the bank.

Under other business, the committee approved the financing ceiling allocated for the first half of the current year and instructed the preparation and submission of a new framework for project evaluation.

As part of developing efforts to support projects, the committee also approved implementing a number of recommendations and proposals, including launching specialised training programmes in preparing financial budgets for establishing projects, cash flow management, and quality assurance. Additionally, a plan was approved to enhance members’ access to a wider range of suppliers to increase opportunities for competitive pricing, as well as determining the contribution ratio for new projects according to the funding amount and credit reports.