Riadske newspaper | Growth of small businesses by 33% and investments in 34 “thick” capital

From the sessions of the second day.. “Monshaat” is an important factor in reducing the unemployment rate and supporting the economy

Saudi Venture Investment Company CEO Dr. Nabil Koshak confirmed that amounts invested in startups in the Kingdom have increased 16 times over the past five years, and this came during the 2023 Budget Forum session.

He also indicated that the Saudi Venture Investment Company has invested in more than 34 venture capital funds and more than 517 companies and made more than 720 investment rounds, indicating that the Kingdom witnessed the first offering and listing of an emerging company on the Nomou market.

For his part, Saud Al-Sabhan, Monshaat Deputy Governor for Entrepreneurship, said that small and medium enterprises enjoy the attention and support of government agencies, given the importance of the role played by these enterprises. In the history of the Kingdom, which was 33% compared to last year, and the number of jobs so far reached 979 thousand.

He also indicated that “Monshaat” is an important factor in reducing the unemployment rate and supporting the economy, as it contributed to an increase in the number of jobs for both sexes by 850 thousand jobs, noting that the percentage of female ownership of small and medium-sized enterprises was 21% in AD in 2016, and today it has reached 43%, talking about the services it provides. Objects”.

Useful: The portal contributed to the increase in the share of financing, because this year this percentage reached 16.8 billion rials, touching on the increase in the share offered by credit facilities and the financing market through all banks and financial companies, because this year it increased by approximately 21% in comparison from 2020 and reached 221 billion this year, compared to 182 billion riyals in 2020, reflecting the extent to which financing companies are responding to the encouragement of SMEs.

For his part, the governor of the Main Authority for Military Industry, engineer Ahmed Al-Ohali, confirmed that the military industry sector is witnessing rapid growth and qualitative movement within the Kingdom, since the number of facilities at the beginning of the establishment of the Authority did not exceed 5 national facilities, and today the number of plants reached more than 265 licenses by the end of November. This year, the total number of plants reached 156, with an estimated investment volume of 40 billion riyals and employing 21,000 employees, including Saudi competencies, who receive the best training opportunities to enhance knowledge and expertise in this vital sector.

And Al-Ohali indicated: The total requests and contracts received by the body since its establishment until the end of November 2022 AD amounted to more than 400 requests from the Ministries of “Defence, Interior, State Security, Royal Guard, National Guard and General Intelligence” , with a total value of 74,065,389,626 billion riyals, in When the total number of applications and contracts submitted to the Agency since its establishment reached 318 applications, with a total value of 56,971,162,364 billion riyals.

On the other hand, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Eng. Osama Al-Zamil confirmed: Next year will be a strong start to activate the national strategy for industry, whose goal is to triple industrial GDP to 895 billion riyals, and also to double the value of industrial exports reached 557 billion rials.

And Eng. Al-Zamil stated: The value of investment in the industrial sector was 1.3 trillion riyals, noting that the national strategy for industry included the announcement of offering more than 800 investment opportunities worth a trillion riyals, increasing exports of advanced technical products by about 6 times and creating tens of thousands of specific jobs.

He explained: The number of factories before the Kingdom Vision 2030 was 7 thousand factories, and after the launch of the vision, the number reached more than 10 thousand factories, which means that this year the Ministry issued 803 industrial licenses and 566 mining licenses, and production started in 539 factories with an investment volume of 26.7 billion rials. Bearing in mind that the sector managed to attract investments worth more than 21.8 billion rials, and the workforce in the industrial sector doubled by employing 47,125 workers, with a localization rate of more than 42% .

For his part, the executive director of the Industrial Fund, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Mojel, confirmed that the fund approved loans of more than 11 billion riyals to the electric car factories “Lucid” and “Sir”, and renewable energy, including the blue hydrogen project in Jubail, and green hydrogen in NEOM, which is the largest in the world. The “Tansawiya” and “Tawteen” programs have also been launched, which support supply chains and increase efficiency and production capacity.

He drew attention to the fact that competitiveness in the Kingdom has moved from the phase of cheap business to automation, and that competitiveness does not depend on the availability of cheap business, but on infrastructure and financial capacities, stating that the Industrial Fund is seeking to approve loans of 40 to 45 billion rials, which is equal to a quarter of what has been done in its history since its launch, stating that new financial products have been launched over the past years and participatory products with banks, and that it is not satisfied with the funds secured through the fund, indicating that the fund does not distinguish the nationality of investors in the Kingdom if internal investment, stating that the Industrial Investment Fund Company has helped many owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, which represents 80% of its clients.

For his part, the CEO of the Saudi Military Industrial Company (SAMI), Eng. Walid Abu Khaled, confirmed: The Saudi Military Industrial Company has been committed over the past decades and in the last three years to achieve full commitment to achieve a localization rate of up to 50%, as main part Indicators for measuring the localization of military industries are the existence of supply chains and support for small and medium enterprises to support this sector.

He stated that the start of SAMI’s operations was in January 2018 after we hired the first director, and over the past five years we have established partnerships with 12 international companies that rank among the 20 largest companies in the world, stressing that the work Results in the past five years they contributed to the company entering the world’s 100 largest defense companies, and in 2030, it wants to advance among the 25 largest companies.

On the other hand, the executive director of the Royal Commission for Al-Ula Governorate, Eng. Omar Al-Madani, said: The most important thing that was done during the first years was based on the formation of a network of global and local partners, and the strengthening and development of Al-Ula by reviving natural and cultural environment and improving the quality of life for residents and visitors, citizens and residents, and ensuring that Al-Ula will have natural heritage in an integrated way to achieve a comprehensive open neighborhood concept, with the establishment of an integrated system of work in the Royal Commission for Al Governorate – Ula.

He also indicated that the body has more than 1,000 employees, 60% of whom live in Al-Ula Governorate, and more than 4,700 beneficiaries have benefited from the “Hemaya” program launched by His Highness the Crown Prince to enable residents of Al-Ula Governorate to become guardians of their heritage, nature and distinctive character, while more than 1,100 develop their language through the Language Institute.