During a recent visit, Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the American University of Sharjah (AUS), and Chairperson of Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa), was briefed on Sheraa’s Q1 achievements in 2023, and also explored the latest developments to boost innovation and research at the Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park (SRTIP), an affiliate of AUS.

Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi met with Najla Al Midfa, CEO of Sheraa, during which she approved the organisational plans and strategies that will be executed by Sheraa this year to strengthen Sharjah’s start-up ecosystem for upcoming founders and changemakers. Following the meeting with Sheraa, Sheikha Bodour also met Hussain Al Mahmoudi, CEO of SRTIP, to learn about the free zone’s future plans to boost its position as one of the region’s leading hubs for research and innovation.

Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi appraised Sheraa’s vision of serving as a catalyst for a new era of entrepreneurship that fuels the next generation of innovative leaders, and lauded the entity’s accomplishments in training and empowering founders throughout 2022, particularly through initiatives like the Access Sharjah Challenge (ASC), which has drawn significant attention from startups seeking to tap into the opportunities that Sharjah has to offer.

Al Midfa shared with Sheikha Bodour that Sheraa’s flagship event, the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival (SEF) witnessed its largest and most successful edition to date last year, attracting over 5,000 visitors, future business leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs to the two-day festival who heard from over 140 speakers and experts.

On STRIPS’s efforts, Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi remarked that Sharjah’s business environment is characterised by the complementary roles of entities that provide an advanced infrastructure that allows the integration of latest technologies to drive opportunities for scientific research and sustainable economic development.

For his part, Hussain Al Mahmoudi highlighted SRTIP’s efforts to develop innovative facilities and spaces that add to the research and scientific environment in the emirate, and boost its vital key sectors with technical solutions that further the emirate’s leading position in knowledge economy and smart cities.

The vision of the Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park is to develop and manage an innovation ecosystem that encourages research and development and promotes institutional cooperation amongst industry, government and academia. SRTIP has been championing entrepreneurship and creativity at its attractive premises distinguished by world-class infrastructure and integrated services, which are driving UAE’s efforts to boost its status as an international destination in the fields of research and technology, and a hub of future-forward foreign investments.