Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority signs deal with banks, financing agencies to assist Saudi SMEs RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s thriving small and medium enterprises ecosystem received a further boost as the Kingdom successfully concluded an interactive week that helped SMEs access various financing solutions to drive their businesses. The Finance Week, organized by the Kingdom’s Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, also known as Monsha’at, witnessed a set of agreements signed between the authority and a group of financing agencies and specialized companies, Saudi Press Agency reported. The weeklong event was organized at four support centers in Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar, and Madinah, where entrepreneurs obtained advice and financing support from exhibitors. It hosted over 22 meetings and workshops, directly benefiting 8,000 participating entrepreneurs. According to the SPA report, the event was hosted by Monsha’at in collaboration with several Saudi banks, government agencies and sectors involved with financing solutions and investment funds. During the event, the SME Bank in Saudi Arabia also launched its two-day financing initiative in partnership with several financing entities, including Bank Albilad, Arab National Bank, and Alawwal Bank. FASTFACTS The weeklong event was organized at four support centers in Riyadh, Jeddah, Alkhobar, and Madinah, where entrepreneurs obtained advice and financing support from exhibitors. It hosted over 22 meetings and workshops, directly benefiting 8,000 participating entrepreneurs. The initiative aimed to speed up the approval process of financing and credit applications for SME business owners. During the event, Abdulrahman bin Mansour, acting CEO of SME Bank, presented a session and introduced various products and financing solutions of the banks to entrepreneurs. Developing the SME sector is a crucial part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 agenda, as the industry aims to make a 35 percent contribution to the Kingdom’s national gross domestic product by 2030. Moreover, SMEs are set to play a significant role in achieving Saudi Arabia’s objectives of lowering the unemployment rate from 11.6 percent to 7 percent and increasing women’s participation in the workforce from 22 percent to 30 percent. In July, a report released by Monsha’at noted that the total number of SMEs in Saudi Arabia reached 1.2 million at the end of the first quarter of this year. According to the report, 88,000 new businesses were established in the Kingdom during the first quarter of 2023, registering 4.8 percent growth over the fourth quarter of 2022 and a 179 percent growth over 2016.