Seybold Report ISSN: 1533-9211
Dr. Afroze Nazneen, Jumanah Mohammed Alnahas, Rawan Saud Farraj Alharbi
Vol 18, No 11 ( 2023 ) | Licensing: CC 4.0 | Pg no: 195-219 | Published on: 28-11-2023
Abstract
This study focused on the status and importance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in lowering the unemployment rate and also tries to identify the major issues and roadblocks to SMEs' development in Saudi Arabia. The comparative method were used using primary and secondary data which involves examining and assessing the existing status of small and medium firms in Saudi Arabia, comparing it to the global situation, and identifying the factors of profiting from it. The findings, reveals several obstacles preventing these initiatives from fulfilling the aims of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, including securing funding, as small business financing accounts for only 5% of overall financing in the Kingdom. When compared to the worldwide equipment, it is a minor fraction. Since a result, the contribution of small and medium firms to the gross domestic product has decreased, as they account for less than 20% of GDP and 53% of employment in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom's Vision 2030 plans to boost this number to 35 percent by 2030, whereas in industrialized nations, it is about 70 percent. The study suggests decision-makers and individuals interested in pioneering workers in the Kingdom to address the problems that small initiatives and pioneer employees face by providing suitable assistance, whether financial, logistical, or both. And efforts to establish a financial fund to finance small and medium enterprises as well as the fund's participation in certain percentages of annual profits for a specific period, based on the value of the loan, the size of the facility, the value of revenues, and the project's idea, as well as the transformation of the Kingdom's General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises into an independent ministry whose mission is to look after Large & Medium Enterprises.
Keywords:
Economic Growth, Small and Medium Enterprises, Unemployment, Inflation and
Supporting funds