“At present, SMEs account for only 33 percent of the private sector contribution to the GDP,” the SAMA chief said while addressing a seminar on SMEs organized by the Institute of Banking in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
“We have to improve the condition of these companies by providing them with necessary financing means for them to play a greater role in the future,” he said.
Al-Jasser said the Finance Ministry has established a program, with a capital of SR200 million, in association with Saudi banks to finance SMEs. It is managed by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund.
The program has given finances worth SR644 million last year while banks have given loans amounting to SR1.6 billion under the program. As many as 1,113 firms have benefited from this financing scheme.
He highlighted the role of SMEs in creating more job opportunities for citizens in advanced and developing countries. He said SMEs in the euro zone region contributed 60 percent to added value and 70 percent to jobs.
Speaking about the definition of SMEs, he said the European Union has described small enterprises as those employing less than 50 employees and having a sales of about 10 million euros while medium enterprises as not more than 250 employees and sales of 50 million euros.
According to the criteria adopted by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, SMEs will have annual sales of SR20 million. There are more than 218,400 SMEs in the Kingdom and about 93 percent of them are owned by individuals, Al-Jasser said.
