RIYADH, 7 October — Two delegations representing Saudi small and medium enterprises — one from the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and the other from the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry — will visit India soon to learn from that country’s experience in the SMEs sector.
This was disclosed to Arab News by Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad who said the decision to organize these delegations was taken at separate meetings that the visiting Minister of State for Small and Medium Enterprises, Vasundhara Raje, had yesterday with SAGIA’s Governor Prince Abdullah ibn Faisal Al-Turki and the secretary- general of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The ambassador said that during their meeting at the Riyadh Chamber it was announced that the Saudi government had agreed to set up an institution to provide financing to the SMEs. Lack of a funding mechanism for SMEs and inadequate marketing/ management skills were identified in a study as some of the key factors inhibiting the growth of SMEs that constitute around 80 percent of the Riyadh chamber’s membership.
The study was conducted by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Center, an affiliate of the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It said the insistence on collateral securities, which the SMEs were unable to provide, was also responsible for the credit squeeze choking their business.
Mrs. Raje and her delegation also visited the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where she held talks with Hussein Athel, secretary-general of RCCI, and Saudi businessmen.
At the meeting the Indian minister made a detailed presentation on India’s experience in SMEs.
She said SMEs constitute 95 percent of the enterprises worldwide. In India, 3.3 million small industries produce goods worth $115 billion per year, sustaining over 18 million families.
“We are educating the SMEs on protection of copyrights and anti-dumping measures. In a survey of 60 SMEs located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Council in 2000, over 75 percent of the enterprises reported problems in marketing. This, like credit, is a universal problem for SMEs.”
The Indian minister said there was a great deal of interest among Indian businessmen in enhancing cooperation with Saudi Arabia.“We have a strong small industries sector in our country. We are particularly strong in textiles and garments, auto components, leather, food processing, light engineering and pharmaceuticals,” she pointed out.
The secretary-general agreed that the development of the SMEs sector was vital for jobs creation in the Kingdom. It was agreed that a team from the Riyadh chamber would also visit India.
