RIYADH: In a bid to boost innovative entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia, the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, also known as Monsha’at, has launched an entrepreneurship acceleration program in the capital city. According to the Saudi Press Agency, the program is a collaboration between the Riyadh governorate and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It aims to enhance entrepreneurship in the region by evaluating its strengths and weaknesses. The program will also develop management activities that support the growth of innovative enterprises in the region. Its duration will be up to two years and will consist of four stages, reported SPA. It further stated that earlier versions of the program attracted participation from the Eastern Province, Makkah and Madinah regions, leading to an entrepreneurship boom. Established in 2016, Monsha’at has been instrumental in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation across the Kingdom. In April, it joined hands with Silicon Valley Innovation Center in the US to launch a specialized program for fast-growing enterprises. The program targeted 50 enterprises over three months, and these firms were given the chance to hone their capabilities with experts from Silicon Valley. The Silicon Valley Innovation Center is one of the most important entities that provide advice to startups worldwide by supporting clients in discovering trends and modern technologies for fast-growing enterprises. In March, Monsha’at Gov. Sami Al-Hussaini said that the authority offered financing solutions worth SR228 billion ($60.7 billion) to small and medium enterprises in 2022, which led to the Kingdom’s SME sector taking a massive leap as it was ranked second on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report for that year. Al-Hussaini noted that the number of SMEs in the Kingdom exceeded 1 million by the end of 2022, which helped create more than 6.2 million job opportunities. The Kingdom also witnessed a 6 percent quarter-on-quarter growth in the number of SMEs during the fourth quarter of 2022. In March, Monsha’at also signed a memorandum of understanding with American digital payment solution provider Visa to build capacity for a digital economy while enabling female entrepreneurs in the Kingdom.