Abu dhabi: One year after its launch at Make it in the Emirates 2025, Emirates Growth Fund (EGF) returned to MIITE 2026 to mark its first anniversary with two landmark announcements: the launch of the National Champions Programme (NCP) - a trilateral initiative with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MOIAT) and the Ministry of Economy and Tourism (MOET) to systematically scale the UAE's most capable industrial SMEs - and the signing of a strategic industrial resilience agreement with MOIAT and ADNOC to strengthen domestic supply chains and accelerate the localisation of critical industrial capabilities.
According to Emirates News Agency, both announcements mark a defining moment in EGF's first year - capital deployed across national priority sectors, programs launched, and a national platform now in place to identify, scale, and integrate the UAE's most capable industrial businesses. The National Champions Programme was officially unveiled by Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Sports and Chairman of Emirates Growth Fund, and Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism.
To mark the occasion, EGF convened a high-level Manufacturing Roundtable bringing together Bin Touq, and the CEOs of leading UAE manufacturers, including Borouge and Rawabi, uniting policymakers, investors, and industrial operators in a single forum to align on the UAE's manufacturing growth agenda. The National Champions Programme brings together policy alignment through MoIAT, market enablement through MOET, and growth equity capital through EGF - creating a unified platform to accelerate SME growth, expand market access, and anchor the UAE's position as a hub for advanced manufacturing. The programme is open to UAE-based manufacturing SMEs in priority sectors, with further details on eligibility and the application process to be announced in due course.
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, emphasized the UAE's ambitious industrial model focused on enablement, partnership, and sustainable production. The Ruwad Al Watan Programme aims to assist high-potential manufacturers to grow and integrate into national value chains, contributing to a more resilient and competitive industrial base in line with the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology and Make it in the Emirates.
In a separate signing at MIITE 2026, EGF entered into a strategic industrial resilience agreement with MOIAT and ADNOC under ADNOC's In-Country Value (ICV) programme. The agreement aligns EGF's investment activity with national supply chain priorities, enabling local industrial suppliers to scale, integrate into ADNOC's supply chain, and contribute to the localisation of critical industrial capabilities across the UAE.
EGF's first year has seen capital deployment into high-potential UAE SMEs across national priority sectors, including CarniStore and Tarmeem, forging strategic partnerships across government and industry, and laying the foundations of a connected industrial ecosystem. MIITE 2026 marks not only the Fund's anniversary but the moment its platform becomes fully operational.
EGF participates at MIITE 2026 as Exclusive Growth Capital Partner, reinforcing its position as the UAE's flagship growth equity investor. Now in its fifth year, MIITE 2026 is the UAE's flagship platform for national industrial transformation, taking place 4-7 May at ADNEC, Abu Dhabi.