Tejar Dubai program helps two businesses get off the ground

Cocolis and Garden Worx, two commercial projects developed by fledgling Emirati entrepreneurs in Dubai with support from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recently began operations.

The projects were launched through the chamber's Tejar Dubai program, which provides development guidance, classroom courses, on-site training and mentoring and network opportunities to startup businesses in the Dubai area.

Cocolis, housed in a showroom at Wasl Vita Mall in Dubai, sells organic products that contain natural cocoa butter. Employees are trained and overseen by chocolate industry experts. The showroom is owned by Kadfoor bin Beyat Al Falasi, who plans to open two new locations of Cocolis, one in Abu Dhabi and another in Dubai, in 2016.

Al Falasi said the Tejar Dubai program provided him with valuable training and guidance about all aspects of starting his business.

Garden Worx, a residential gardening and landscaping business, was founded by Ali Sharafi. The business provides plants, flowers, garden furniture and swimming pools.

Sharafi said his business is now poised, largely due to assistance from Tejar Dubai, to serve the needs of the growing gardening and home maintenance market in the UAE. He said he found the program's training and workshops very helpful.

Dubai chamber Chairman Majid Saif Al Ghurair said the two projects were indicative of the types of enterprises the chamber wants to support and that the chamber was committed to helping young business owners to succeed.

Ghurair called Al Falasi's and Sharafi's ideas "innovative" and said businesses such as theirs would help boost the overall economy of the UAE.

To date, Tejar Dubai has helped new entrepreneurs launch 13 businesses.

"This shows that the entrepreneurship development program is rightly providing guidance to the young Emirati talents’ innovative ideas while inspiring them to set up their own businesses," Al Ghurair said.