RIYADH, 26 June 2006 — Dozens of aspiring entrepreneurs successfully completed a four-week training course in Riyadh to help prepare and educate them about the bare essentials and challenges of business.
Twenty-five men and 16 women completed the course entitled “How to start your own little project” yesterday.
Graduates, who were honored by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) in a ceremony held at its headquarters, had qualified to enter the program from over a thousand applicants.
Trainees paid SR1,500 as a registry fee to participate. The National Commercial Bank (NCB) paid a further SR8,500 as part of a move to support community services.
Speaking about NCB’s role in supporting the training course, Mahmoud Al-Turkistani, head of the community service unit, said that supporting young Saudis was among the bank’s main priorities.
He said financing the program was part of NCB’s community service fund, which seeks to provide financial support to future Saudi businessmen and women.
He also said that NCB had formed a strategic partnership with the Abdul Latif Jameel Fund for SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) and the Continual Fund provided by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) to finance projects by potential future Saudi businessmen and women.
He added that NCB’s role extends beyond being a financial provider to following up on the graduate’s performance for a period of up to six months and provide him or her with free consultations and advise for their projects.
“Many young men and women take the necessary money to start their own projects and fail after a few months into business. We see to it that they are equipped with the necessary tools of education, guidance and direction,” he said.
Al-Turkistani said many of the graduates had already begun opening small projects such as a furniture outlet and a beauty center.
Asked about the amount provided by NCB to support small and medium projects, he said it ranged from SR50,000 to SR2 million, depending on the project.
Some of the youths who graduated from the course said it had enlightened them about several aspects they were not aware of in the tough and competitive business sector here in the Kingdom. “I advise the youths who want to start their own business to join such training courses because it saves them a lot of time and effort,” said Muhammad Al-Turki, one of the graduates.
Another trainee, Ibrahim Al-Akeeli, said he learned how to avoid the mistakes other young businessmen and women made in their initial steps.
“Before I joined the course I intended to start two projects. When completing the course I realized that my entire perspective was wrong and I changed my mind totally,” he said
However, not all graduates had a smiley face yesterday. One of the graduates expressed his dismay at the long list of guarantees still required by financial institutions to support small and medium enterprises.
“I think it is extreme that someone who wants a loan of just SR100,000 has to provide two sponsors and two guarantors. And we all know how difficult that is nowadays. The RCCI or the labor office could be the guarantor instead,” said Muhammad Al-Ahmari, one of the graduates.
“Many of these funds that we hear about are nothing but big ads in newspapers,” he went on, complaining about the hardships that come after.
According to the RCCI, SMEs currently represent the majority of economic institutions in the Kingdom and represent 80-90 percent of the country’s business sector.
By opening their own SMEs, Saudi youths have a better chance of supporting themselves rather than waiting in long queues in government or private sector offices in the hope of landing jobs.
