Riyadh, February 16, 2019, SPA -- The Ministry of Commerce and Investment revealed that the total number of individual firms grew by 16% in 2018 to 945,278, while the limited liability companies (LLCs) increased by 11.4% during 2018 to 109,036 companies. Rate of the growth falls in line with the reforms and improvements introduced by the ministry and the business sector undergone during the past period, as it took advantage of procedures to facilitate the start of business activity, which the ministry has worked to bring about, in cooperation with a number of related parties. Existing records of the joint stock companies increased, in 2018 by 5.9% compared to 2017. 39% of the Saudi companies are in Riyadh Region, followed by Makkah Region with 25%, the Eastern Region with 19%, Madinah Region with 4% and Qassim Region with 3%, while in the domain of individual firms, 28% are in Riyadh, 23% in Makkah, 15% in the Eastern-region, 7% in Qassim and 5% in Asir, respectively. A number of reforms and improvements to best serve the business environment and facilitate the start of business, enabled establishment of companies, in a record time of 30 minutes, provided 61 services from online and expanded customer service centers' concept of the comprehensive employee. The ministry has recently issued decisions to empower companies, notably, canceling the issuance of sub-records of establishments that carry out similar activities, in the same region, amending Commercial Registration and Companies Regulations, in addition to cancel documenting of contracts, at the public notary bureaus. Small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) Initiative was also recently launched, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, to motivate and empower entrepreneurs to start business and create more jobs for citizenry. On the other hand, SMEs Support and Empowerment Center to provide the sector with back up, training and guidance services for entrepreneurs, was kicked off, too. -- SPA 20:34 LOCAL TIME 17:34 GMT 0010 www.spa.gov.sa/w837953