Emirates: The Saudi Central bank, also referred to as SAMA, has announced adding a subtitle to an existing law, which reduces the minimum paid-up capital for finance firms specialized in financing and supporting small and medium enterprises to SR50 million ($13.3 million), according to a statement.

SAMA said the amendment made to the Implementing Regulation of the Finance Companies Control Law cements its efforts to further develop Saudi Arabia’s SME sector.

The new amendment will also help attract more investors to the Kingdom’s SME sector and establish more finance companies specializing in financing SMEs.

With proper financial support and advisory services – such as the National Industry Strategy – SMEs will have the opportunity to achieve long-term success and overcome the challenges faced, according to a report released in 2022 by multinational professional services network KPMG.

“As Saudi Arabia looks to diversify its sources of revenue, grow its non-oil-based economy and increase the contribution of SMEs and the industrial sector to the GDP, supporting emerging industrial enterprises in the country will be vital,” asserted Omar Alhalabi, director of the Global Strategy Group at KPMG in Saudi Arabia.

The Social Development bank has signed an agreement with the National Technology Development Program to operate a financing opportunity worth SR200 million, to be allocated to technology-centric SMEs to enhance their competitiveness and play their vital role in the national economy in line with the Saudi Vision 2030.

In 2022, the General Authority for SMEs, also known as Monsha’at, announced that the number of SMEs in the Kingdom surged 15 percent in the first three months of 2022 to hit 752,600 SMEs.

This comes as the SME sector is perceived as a vital economic engine, a key generator of new employment, and the foundation of the global economy, Al Sa’adi explained in an exclusive interview with Arab News last year.

Under the Vision 2030 goals, the SME sector m in the Kingdom aims to make a 35 percent contribution to the national gross domestic product by 2030, with Aramco keen on being part of that.

Furthermore, SMEs will play a significant role in achieving Saudi Arabia’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.