Saudi Arabia plans to provide small and medium enterprises

Saudi Arabia is considering a range of facilities that are expected to be offered to small and medium enterprises in the coming year. This comes as the Kingdom is  expected to launch in 10 days a specialized forum, which aims to display scenarios supporting small and medium enterprises in the country.

This new information comes at a time when the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises is looking at the most important tools and solutions that would motivate small companies and institutions to play their role in the diversification of the economy in line with the kingdom’s Vision 2030.

According to information received by Asharq Al-Awsat, the financing of SMEs tops the list of expected facilities that will be provided for this vital sector; Meanwhile, facilitating government procedures are among important steps the Kingdom begam implementing in support of small and medium enterprises.

In this regard, Saudi Arabia established a few months ago the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at) to serve and support the SME sector and entrepreneurs.

One of the main tasks of the Authority is to hold conferences and exhibitions that will actively contribute to enhancing communication and enriching youth with innovative ideas and means of investing them whether for those who have existing establishments or those who have a passion for establishing new business facilities.

Saudi Arabia has made a vital decision to launch the Nomu-Parallel Market, which is an alternative equity market with lighter listing requirements compared to the main market. It aims to help qualified small and medium-sized companies achieve growth by providing various funding resources.

This will allow companies to expand their businesses and develop their activities, contributing to their growth and sustainability.

It represents a new investment opportunity to a large segment of companies, including small and medium-sized ones. These companies play an important role in supporting the national economy, and Nomu will enhance growth as the listing requirements are more flexible than the main markets.

For his part, Governor of Monsha’at Ghassan al-Sulaiman announced during a press conference in August that the authority will launch an interactive forum (BIBAN), which will be held at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention center on September 17-20.

“BIBAN aims to raise community awareness on the importance of innovation and creativity for entrepreneurship as well as to create a nurturing environment and the technical infrastructure to support competitiveness among SMEs,” Sulaiman said.

BIBAN is an important event to create a new culture for the SMEs sector, and the event will highlight successes and challenges of SMEs in Saudi Arabia, he added.