{"id":82263,"date":"2025-10-18T06:03:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T06:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/82263\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T06:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T06:03:13","slug":"when-stars-connect-how-saeed-al-gergawi-is-championing-dubais-digital-transformation-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/82263\/","title":{"rendered":"When Stars Connect: How Saeed Al Gergawi is Championing Dubai&#8217;s Digital Transformation Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n    You&#8217;re reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.\n  <\/p>\n<p>At <a href=\"https:\/\/expandnorthstar.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Expand North Star 2025<\/a>, Entrepreneur Middle East joined forces with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dubaichamberdigital.com\/en\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy<\/a> (DCDE) to present the When Stars Connect podcast \u2014 a series spotlighting the innovators shaping the future of Dubai&#8217;s digital economy.<\/p>\n<p>Among the standout voices was Saeed Al Gergawi, Vice President of DCDE, whose leadership is driving the emirate&#8217;s vision to become the world&#8217;s most connected startup hub. Watch the full When Stars Connect conversation with Saeed Al Gergawi using the link above.<\/p>\n<p>Building Dubai&#8217;s Startup Launchpad<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re building an economy of the future: one that empowers digital talent, attracts investment, and drives creativity,&#8221; Al Gergawi shared during the podcast.<\/p>\n<p>He explained how the Chamber launched the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dubaichamberdigital.com\/documents\/184026\/0\/Dubai+Startup+Guide+2025.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Startup Guide<\/a>, a transparent roadmap that helps entrepreneurs navigate licensing, visas, funding, and investment opportunities \u2014 along with the Launchpad initiative, designed to streamline setup for startups looking to scale from Dubai.<\/p>\n<p>In this podcast, Al Gergawi also discusses how <a href=\"https:\/\/dubaifoundershq.com\/en\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dubai Founders HQ<\/a> functions as a home base for entrepreneurs seeking structure, mentorship, and early traction.<\/p>\n<p>  Creating Belonging in the Digital Economy<\/p>\n<p>During the conversation, Al Gergawi emphasized that Dubai&#8217;s success isn&#8217;t only about infrastructure; it&#8217;s about inclusion. &#8220;We measure success not only in KPIs but in comfort. Are companies happy here? Do they feel they belong?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This focus on quality of life, combined with world-class business policies, has made Dubai the region&#8217;s most desirable home for digital entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p>Al Gergawi also highlighted how Dubai&#8217;s leadership prioritizes the happiness and well-being of founders as a measure of innovation success in the episode.<\/p>\n<p>Empowering the Next Wave of Digital Industries<\/p>\n<p>With the <a href=\"https:\/\/u.ae\/en\/about-the-uae\/strategies-initiatives-and-awards\/strategies-plans-and-visions\/finance-and-economy\/dubai-economic-agenda-d33\" rel=\"nofollow\">Dubai Economic Agenda (D33)<\/a> aiming to double Dubai&#8217;s economy by 2033, DCDE is targeting a 20% GDP contribution from the digital sector. Key growth areas include fintech, AI, logistics, and smart city tech.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Dubai is now a testbed for global innovation,&#8221; Al Gergawi explained. &#8220;You can build, test, and scale from here, and reach the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Watch More from When Stars Connect<\/p>\n<p>Explore more founder stories from the When Stars Connect podcast series, brought to you by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy and Entrepreneur Middle East:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You&#8217;re reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. At Expand North Star 2025, Entrepreneur Middle&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,57102,57100,57098,52707,184,57101,85,46,57097,57099],"class_list":["post-82263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-d33-agenda","tag-dcde","tag-digital-economy-uae","tag-dubai-chamber-of-digital-economy","tag-economy","tag-expand-north-star","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-saeed-al-gergawi","tag-startup-ecosystem-dubai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}