DUBAI // The country's top 25 entrepreneurs will reap the benefits of international recognition thanks to a newly launched search for the world's fastest-growing companies.
The winners - those with the highest growth rate in the past three years - will receive widespread publicity as the "UAE 25", and organisers say this should lead to new connections and investors. "We call it 'visibility economics'," said Deirdre Coyle Jr, who co-founded the AllWorld Network in 2007, in partnership with the Harvard business professor, Michael Porter. "By raising the awareness of the company, the market comes to them."
Applicants must submit audited reports for the past three years, with a minimum revenue of US$500,000 (Dh1.83m) a year.
"There are many success stories," said Shadi Banna, the owner of local partner company Potential, which will provide the winners with free business coaching. "If these guys are growing in this kind of market, imagine what will happen when the market picks up."
The group plans to announce the UAE winners by early January.
AllWorld Network is also looking in other Middle Eastern countries to find the top 500 firms in the region. Searches have already been held in Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Similar rankings are planned for Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America by 2015.