SIMAH targets 800,000 firms within SME category

Nabeel Al-Mubarak, CEO of Saudi Credit Bureau (SIMAH), says the taqyeem project has targeted some 800,000 firms under the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) Kingdomwide.
His statement came in the context of a workshop organized recently by the SMEs' development committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) on the taqyeem project in cooperation with SIMAH.
The taqyeem project was launched by SIMAH, which is aimed at evaluating SME projects so as to extend credit facilities to such projects in coordination with relevant banks and financial institutions.
Meanwhile, JCCI Secretary General Adnan Mandourah has expressed JCCI's commitment to provide guidance and assistance for SME initiators due to their role in the national economy.
He stressed the importance of cooperation between JCCI and SIMAH, particularly through the taqyeem project and its role in facilitating funding process for SME projects.
Al-Mubarak said some 800,000 projects have so far been categorized as SMEs. 15,000 firms are corporate companies with their capital totaling SR 782 billion (2 percent), and 67 percent are categorized as individual firms.
Focusing on the importance of the SMEs to the national economy, Al-Mubarak said the share of SMEs to the gross domestic product (GDP) in the developed and developing countries stands at 65 percent and 66 percent respectively.
SIMAH has launched the project to qualify more than 20,000 SME projects in the Saudi market as a basic step to encourage banks to finance these firms and to diversify banks' portfolios, he pointed out.