Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — The number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia hit 1.2 million by the first quarter of this year, an increase of 4.8 percent over the fourth quarter of last year, while 89,000 new enterprises were launched during this period.
The kingdom’s General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at) said in a report that Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh accounted for the largest share of the number of SMEs (41.4 percent), followed by the Makkah region 18.9 percent, the Eastern Province 11.1 percent, and the rest of the regions to 28.6 percent.
The first quarter witnessed the highest level of financing for SMEs of SAR 1.35 billion, with the e-commerce and retail sectors emerging as the most active and highly funded sectors in the kingdom.
The report also reviewed the achievements of Biban 23 forum, which was attended by 145,000 visitors from around the world. The kingdom also hosted the Entrepreneurship World Cup, in addition to agreements, launches and investment tours worth more than 52 billion, and the participation of more than 1,200 exhibitors from around the world.
The report highlighted the initiatives of the SME Bank, which aim to raise the contributions of small and medium enterprises to the GDP to 35 percent by 2030, by providing six financing products, including credit cards for enterprises, financing electronic stores, in addition to working capital financing, microfinance.
A special segment of the report is devoted to Madinah region, which embraced more tha 60,000 SMEs during the first quarter of this year