Saudi financing agencies announced the allocation of 11 billion riyals ($2.9 billion) for entrepreneurship projects and SMEs in the Kingdom. This came during the launching of Biban 2023 - Saudi Arabia’s largest start-up, SME, and entrepreneurship conference – which kicked off on Thursday at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Center. Organized by Monsha’at - the Saudi General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises – the conference is attended by 350 speakers representing entrepreneurs, investors and experts from around the world, more than 120 public and private entities, and 750 exhibitors. Monsha’at Governor Sami Al-Husseini said thanks to government support, the number of SMEs in the Kingdom grew to more than 1.141 million by the end of 2022. Speaking at the event, Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah said: “We are working on several methods and incentives to attract entrepreneurship in the fields of Hajj and Umrah.” He noted that financial technology (FinTech) was a fertile field for entrepreneurs in the Hajj sector. Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Eng. Ahmed Al-Rajhi explained that startups and medium-sized companies employed more than 6 million people in Saudi Arabia. He added that more than two million Saudis are working in the private sector. “The government has involved the private sector in the employment process, which has created different job opportunities for young men and women... The number of workers in the private sector have exceeded that of government employees,” he remarked. Minister of Transport and Logistics Services Eng. Saleh Al-Jasser stated that various government sectors, including transportation and logistics, were supported by SMEs. Addressing a panel at the conference, he said: “Many of the initiatives today are not suitable for large companies, and are therefore a golden opportunity for SMEs... Most of the applications related to the transportation sector started with simple ideas by entrepreneurs, and today they compete with many large companies.” Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef stressed that promoting local content activity was an excellent opportunity, adding that the Biban 2023 forum will witness the launch of unique industrial projects. “Supporting small and emerging industrial companies establishes a successful work system in Saudi Arabia. Young people must make sufficient efforts to search for promising opportunities in various fields of industry,” he added.