22
ANNUAL REPORT 2015
Support
for SMEs discussed
Customers express
trust in UAE banks
The UBF discussed possible
measures to manage and
control loan defaults by small
and medium sized enterprises
(SMEs) at the meeting of its
CEO Advisory Council on 7th
December in Dubai. The CEO
Advisory Council was advised
on the latest developments on
SMEs skips in the country and
discussed the various reasons
for this.
Small
businesses
are
considered vital to the economy, providing a
large percentage of the UAE private sector
workforce and therefore, the CEO Advisory
Council considered ways and means for banks to
apply a co-ordinated approach, in cooperation
and consultation with the Central Bank, to
alleviate SME funding difficulties and continue
Last year, the UBF launched an
independent study to track the level
of trust among the country’s banking
customers. The results of the study
formed the basis of a
Trust Index
and
revealed a positive outcome for the
country’s banks.
It found that 70 per cent of
customers in the UAE have a high
level of trust in their banks, especially
compared to customers in other
international banking markets, and that
UAE banking customers are five times
more likely to say their view of banks
has improved rather than worsened in
the past six months.
Thesurveywasconducted inAugust
2015 and is based on responses from
1,040 adults with bank accounts who
are resident in the UAE. The interviews
were conducted in collaboration with
Brunswick Insight and Ipsos Observer
using a variety of channels to ensure
the sample of respondents reflected a
representative cultural and gender mix.
banks’ support to the SME sector.
UAE banks commitment to alleviate SME-
funding difficulties comes at a time when many
small and medium sized businesses are facing
some challenges and through supporting them
during difficult times banks are able to benefit
the overall economy.
ACTIVITIES
