Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, and His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, The Duke of York, on Wednesday attended the inaugural Pitch@PalaceUAE competition final at the Emirates Palace.

Twelve of the best and brightest entrepreneurs from across the UAE pitched their innovative ideas in front of an audience of more than 600 CEOs, influencers, mentors and business partners.

The winners of Pitch@PalaceUAE were Mansoor Al Kaabi, the owner of Dwak, and Faraj Alfaraj, the owner of Brailleye. The duo will be flown to London to represent the UAE at the global final of Pitch@Palace on 6th December, 2017.

Sheikh Hamed said that Abu Dhabi is keen to move ahead to enhance entrepreneurship and establish a suitable environment to enable youth entrepreneurs to bring their qualitative and innovative projects and visions to reality.

"We believe that entrepreneurship and supporting and placement of youth is one of the ideal methods to overcome the post-oil era for which we are properly prepared," he stated in a press release.

He further valued the important role of the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development in instilling a culture of entrepreneurship and SME development and enabling the youth to contribute effectively to sustainable development.

His Royal Highness praised the superior standards achieved by the UAE and Abu Dhabi in particular in the field of entrepreneurship, affirming that "existence of well-established governmental corporations such as the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development and Khalifa Innovation Centre in line with organisations supporting SMEs through the emirates, reflect the genuine keenness of the UAE government to support and enhance the culture of entrepreneurship and innovation. This aspect will contribute effectively to reducing dependence on oil as a substantial source of income of the UAE."

"Through my review of ideas of competing projects in Pitch@Palace, I have felt tremendous innovation and passion and these are considered two major factors for entrepreneurs to attain success," he added.

Further, Hussain Jassim Al Nowais, Chairman of the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, ensured that the Fund will continue promoting and enhancing the culture of entrepreneurship among the youth. It will also continue contributing effectively to the process of helping citizens from all categories of the community to promote social welfare attained by UAE nationals under our wise leadership, he added.