Saudi Arabia aims to create more than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs through a new strategy for small and medium-sized enterprises. The plan also targets lower business costs, stronger financing access and greater participation by innovative international startups.
The Saudi Cabinet approved the National Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprises Strategy on Tuesday, September 15. Its 13 initiatives seek to raise SMEs’ contribution to gross domestic product to 35 per cent.
Commerce Minister Dr Majid Al Qasabi said the strategy would strengthen entrepreneurship and help businesses grow and expand. Al Qasabi also chairs the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, known as Monsha’at.
The plan targets first place globally by 2030 on the indicator measuring entrepreneurial skills and knowledge.
More opportunities for growing businesses
The strategy covers financing, market access, operational capabilities, regulation and innovation. It seeks to make business operations easier while addressing obstacles that limit expansion.
Al Qasabi said the plan reflected the leadership’s support for entrepreneurs and smaller businesses. He described it as a move towards a more integrated and efficient business environment.
Implementation will require coordination across government entities, he said. That cooperation should help SMEs access opportunities across sectors and participate more extensively in value chains and major projects.
The strategy also seeks to open new domestic and international markets for Saudi businesses.
Its focus extends beyond helping entrepreneurs establish companies. The measures aim to create conditions that allow those businesses to expand and compete at home and abroad.
Procurement, exports and international startups
Planned programmes include support for open commercial innovation and businesses operating in industrial cities and special economic zones.
Other initiatives will help Saudi companies expand internationally and increase exports. The strategy also seeks a larger role for SMEs in government procurement and purchases by major companies.
A comprehensive SME database forms another part of the plan. Authorities intend to connect it with relevant databases across the entrepreneurship sector.
Saudi Arabia also plans to attract innovative international startups and establish their operations locally. Alongside this effort, the strategy calls for reviewing minimum Saudisation requirements according to sector.
The announcement outlines a review of those requirements, rather than a uniform change across all businesses. Separate measures will address the cost of doing business.
Financing support and Vision 2030
Financial initiatives will focus on improving awareness and literacy, strengthening access to funding and offering incentives to institutions that finance SMEs.
These measures support Saudi Arabia’s longer-term ambitions for the sector. Monsha’at, established in 2016, identifies raising SMEs’ GDP contribution from a 20 per cent baseline to 35 per cent as a core objective.
The latest strategy adds a coordinated set of initiatives covering business growth, procurement, innovation and financing.
Al Qasabi said the plan would help smaller companies benefit more fully from economic opportunities and strengthen their contribution to development under Vision 2030.
