The UAE has taken steps to support familyowned businesses, including approving a law that allows family businesses to be listed on the country’s financial markets. In January 2022, the President, Sheikh Khalifa, issued a new family business ownership governance law to facilitate the transition to successive generations. The new law prevents selling shares or dividends of family-owned businesses to people or companies outside the family, and requires prior approval from family partners before a shareholder sells an equity stake to a non-family member.

In addition, in September 2022, the UAE launched a programme that aims to double family-owned businesses’ contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product to $320 billion by 2032, and help them become more innovative and adopt new technologies: Thabat Venture Builder. This is the first such initiative in the region, and will guide companies through a five-month programme to help them transform ideas into viable projects.

The top ten family businesses in the region employ 600,000 people and have a net worth of more than USD 31 billion (AED 114 billion).

 

Family-owned businesses contribute 60% of the country’s GDP and 80% of the nation’s workforce, and account for about 90% of private companies in the UAE.

 

Around 38% of businesses are still chaired by the first generation while 47% are run by the second generation; a meagre 15% are managed by the third generation or later.

 

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