The Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority “Monsha’at” has presented 23 initiatives linked to seven strategic objectives across five of the 11 Saudi Vision 2030 programs: the National Transformation Program, the Financial Sector Development Program, the Fiscal Sustainability Program, the Human Capability Development Program, and the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program.

Among Monsha’at’s notable achievements under the National Transformation Program is the increase in the number of SMEs from 429,026 in 2016 to 1,141,733 in 2022, a growth rate of 166% since the launch of Saudi Vision 2030. Monsha’at also helped the Kingdom rank second in the National Entrepreneurship Context Index (NECI) for 2022, up from 41st in 2018, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report.

Under the Financial Sector Development Program, Monsha’at contributed to establishing the SME Bank and raising the share of SME lending from 5.4% in 2018 to 8.3% in 2022, a growth rate of 54%. It also launched the Funding Gate to connect government and private sector financiers with SMEs seeking financing; the funding provided through the gate has exceeded SAR 18 billion.

Monsha’at also established the Saudi Venture Capital Company to promote venture capital and direct investment in startups and to encourage private sector investment; venture capital investment in Saudi Arabia reached SAR 3.7 billion. Under the Fiscal Sustainability Program, the authority launched the Estrdad initiative for refunding government fees in 2018, which encouraged micro, small, and medium enterprises to enter the market and supported their growth during their first years of operation; total refunds reached SAR 3.5 billion from its launch until 2021.

Under the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program, Monsha’at launched the Jadeer service to facilitate access by micro, small, and medium enterprises to procurement opportunities in the public and private sectors; more than 2,300 enterprises have qualified through the service.

Under the Human Capability Development Program, Monsha’at launched the University Startups initiative to spread the culture of entrepreneurship, offering several programs that have supported more than 65,000 university students and helped the Kingdom advance in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report from 23rd to fifth place over the past two years in the entrepreneurship in higher education index.

As part of its ongoing achievements under Saudi Vision 2030, Monsha’at has launched SMEs Support Centers in four regions of the Kingdom to develop SMEs and entrepreneurs through public and private sector cooperation and to build a competitive regional economic ecosystem that achieves sustainability and prosperity across sectors and raises their contribution to GDP. The centers have served more than 66,000 beneficiaries.