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The Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development (ADCED) organized today the annual Akoun ceremony to honor 24 winners of this year’s “Best Business Idea Competition.” The ceremony represents the closing event of the fourth round of Akoun Initiative, a programme intended to promote entrepreneurialism among university students and help and encourage them to start their own businesses.
The annual ceremony took place at Shangri La Hotel in Abu Dhabi and was attended by ADCED’s Director General Fahad Saeed Al Raqbani. Present at the ceremony were also H.E. Mohammad Azzan Al Mazroei, Director General of the Western Region Development Council (WRDC), H.E. Mohammad Hilal Al Muhairi, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI), H.E. Mohammad Al Qemzi, CEO of the Zones Corp, Mr. Mohammad Al Shamesi, Senior Manager of Enterprises & Support Department at Khalifa Fund. The ceremony was also attended by high-ranking officials from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders, Entrepreneurs Forum, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority, Ruwad Establishment, TwoFour54 and the Department of Economic Development.
Apart from the Award Ceremony, the Akoun Initiative involves organizing workshops for students at various university with the participation of a number of UAE entrepreneurs who share their knowledge and experience with the students. The students then are encouraged to submit their entries for the best business idea competition. This is the fourth running year that this Initiative is conducted by ADCED. However, this year has been characterized by the fact that the Initiative was expanded for the first time to include universities from all the seven emirates of the UAE.
Commenting on the success of Akoun Initiative in its fourth year, H. E. Fahad Saeed Al Raqbani, ADCED’s Director General said: “The talents we have seen in this year’s competition have been exceptional. The record number of submissions made the selection process incredibly difficult for the judges at the Selection Committee. In their search for best business ideas, they were looking for unique and imaginative ideas supported by resourceful and comprehensive business plans. A great number of entries met these criteria, which made the task of the judges difficult. The Committee was delighted to see the strong response from students this year who came prepared with convincing argument to prove that their project deserve to win.”
“We hope this year’s winners will pursue their endeavors and join other Emirati entrepreneurial talents through turning their winning ideas into reality. In appreciation for their creative business ideas, the winners have the privilege of receiving start-up funding, professional guidance and expert advice to help bring their ideas to fruition. We look forward to seeing this generation will advance to become success stories for Akoun and the UAE,” Al Raqbani concluded.
Describing this year’s success of the Akoun Initiative, Dima Al Bawardi, Executive Director of the Corporate Communication Division at ADCED said it is heartening to see so many young talents participating in Akoun workshops and competition. “More than two thousand Emirati students from all over the country have participated in this year’s workshops, which were organized in 22 universities. We received 148 entries for the business idea competition compared to 113 entries last year. In view of expanding the Initiative and of the large number of entries, the number of winners this year rose to 24 compared to 9 winners last year,” Dima concluded.
The 24 winners from all seven emirates will receive cash funding of AED 25,000 for the first place, AED 15,000 for the second place and AED 10,000 for the third place. In addition, they will receive financial and non-financial support from our partners to enable them start their own businesses based on the business ideas they submitted. All non-winning competition entrants will receive expert feedback and advice on their submissions.
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