Arab News, Thursday, May 11, 2023 | Shawwal 21, 1444
Saudi Arabia launches business incubator, accelerator programs to support SMEs
Saudi Arabia: Entrepreneurs in Saudi
Arabia are set to receive a boost from the new Industrial Business Accelerator
and Incubator Initiative launched by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral
Resources.
The new drive aims to meet the specific needs of
small and medium enterprises and industrial project owners in the Kingdom,
according to a statement.
Incubators primarily concentrate on entrepreneurs
in the early stages, according to the official spokesman of the Ministry of
Industry and Mineral Resources Jarrah bin Muhammad Al-Jarrah.
They tend to sponsor businesses, from those at the
stage of generating ideas to emerging companies, while helping them to establish
and further accelerate in terms of future growth and success, the spokesman
added.
On the other hand, accelerators mainly focus on
late-stage startups which have high growth potential.
They pose as short-term programs that offer
business consulting, training, mentorship, as well as optional financial support
while aiming at further expanding their scope.
The new initiative will benefit from the
experience and joint resources of the industry system as a whole, in addition to
other government agencies, leading national universities, and large industrial
companies.
The program will also see the participation of
financial investors, leading international operators of incubators, and
accelerator networks.
All parties involved are expected to work
hand-in-hand to provide comprehensive, high-quality support to the industrial
entrepreneurs registered to the program.
The initiative also falls in line with the
Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the objectives of the National Industrial Strategy by
increasing the base of mature, innovative, and globally competitive SMEs, Jarrah
stressed.
In return, this will effectively help address the
challenges of industrial entrepreneurs and SMEs in the Kingdom, thereby
encouraging more industrial entrepreneurship and improving continuity of
industrial startups in the long run, he added.
The SME sector is perceived as a vital economic
engine, a key generator of new employment, and the foundation of a global
economy, Senior Vice President of Technical Services at Aramco Ahmad Al-Sa’adi
said in an interview with Arab News in 2022.
Under the Vision 2030 goals, the sector is working
to contribute 35 percent to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product by 2030.
In addition to this, SMEs are set to play a
significant role in achieving the Kingdom’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.