RIYADH: In partnership with the World Bank and Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Facebook published the sixth Global State of Small Business Report, the last in a series of surveys of company owners conducted this year. The latest instalment was based on a survey of more than 25,000 owners, managers, and employees in approximately 50 countries and regions including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, and was carried out between Oct. 23 and 31. The results showed that while business conditions had improved since the first survey, a substantial number of small businesses remained closed and a majority continued to report reduced sales and employment, even as the economy as a whole showed signs of improvement. The report revealed the percentage of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) on Facebook that were operational or engaging in any number of revenue-generating activities in October. Across the region, these figures total to 83 percent in the UAE, 88 percent in Saudi Arabia, and 79 percent in Egypt. Survey results also showed that 56 percent of operational SMBs on Facebook in the UAE, 38 percent in Saudi Arabia, and 61 percent in Egypt reported sales achievements in the past month that were lower than the same month last year. Even with global economic conditions showing signs of recovery, SMBs in the region were still faced with the burden of reducing their number of employees in October: 45 percent in the UAE, 29 percent in Saudi Arabia, and 45 percent in Egypt. Although conditions remain challenging for SMBs, business owners and managers were resilient with 72 percent in the UAE, 58 percent in Saudi Arabia, and 56 percent in Egypt remaining optimistic about the future of their business. Many had acted creatively to find new ways to reach customers, increasing the proportion of sales they made digitally during the course of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In the Middle East, 47 percent of operational SMBs in the UAE, 37 percent in Saudi Arabia, and 38 percent in Egypt reported that 25 percent or more of their sales were made digitally in the past month. Even more promising were the figures representing the proportion of sales they made digitally compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, with 30 percent in the UAE, 19 percent in Saudi Arabia, and 15 percent in Egypt reporting that these figures had in fact increased. Looking ahead, SMBs are managing their own expectations for the future, with 37 percent in the UAE, 26 percent in Saudi Arabia, and 28 percent in Egypt indicating that they predict cash flow will be a challenge in the next few months. Ramez Shehadi, managing director of Facebook in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, said: “Small businesses have a critical role to play when it comes to the growth and evolution of our economy in a post-COVID world. “At Facebook, we have made it our priority to facilitate their access to the tools they need to navigate their transition to the digital space since the early days of the pandemic. “In this final instalment of the report, we saw this shift represented by a significant number of SMBs in our region, who reported an increase of 25 percent or more in digital sales. “Though the path to recovery remains unseen, what is for certain is that small businesses have shown a sense of resilience and a propensity to think outside of the box in finding new ways to reach customers. “As they continue to forge their paths into the future, we will remain committed to ensuring our platforms act as a gateway for supporting their need to survive and thrive online,” he added. Facebook has heavily invested in helping SMBs through initiatives such as its #LoveLocal campaign, free online tools, and free ad credits. More than 200 million businesses use Facebook and its family of apps every month to create virtual storefronts and reach customers. As the last in a series of six studies monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on SMBs, the report examined the outcomes and key trends observed in recent months in the areas of access to finance, digital engagement, gender differences, and micro-businesses and sought to analyze in further detail both the provision and efficacy of financial support. The report also analyzed SMB owners’ future expectations and assessed the additional support they may require.