His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Saad bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Hail Region, emphasized that the region is witnessing the first fruits of the varied productive projects of its young men and women, which translate the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. He commended the ideas, initiatives, and successes achieved by the young men and women of Hail, looking forward to more creative and developmental ideas over the coming year.
This came in a statement by His Royal Highness after he patronized this evening the seventh edition of the Biban forum, organized by the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority “Monsha’at” under the slogan “Ambition Has an Idea, and Success Has Biban (Doors)”, in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Governor of Hail Region; His Excellency the Minister of Commerce and Investment and Chairman of Monsha’at’s Board of Directors, Doctor Majid Al-Qasabi; the Undersecretary of Hail Region Emirate, Adel bin Saleh Al Al-Sheikh; and the Governor of Monsha’at, Engineer Saleh bin Ibrahim Al-Rasheed.
During the ceremony, His Royal Highness named one of Hail’s streets and roads after His Excellency the Minister of Commerce and Investment, Doctor Majid Al-Qasabi, in recognition of His Excellency’s contributions to the region’s growth and development over twenty years. His Royal Highness also thanked the Governor of Monsha’at, Engineer Saleh Al-Rasheed, and all those in charge of the forum and the exhibition.
The ceremony included a speech by the Governor of Monsha’at, Engineer Saleh Al-Rasheed, in which he welcomed the Governor of Hail, his deputy, and the attendees. He noted that Monsha’at has worked over the past period on many initiatives and programs to develop the sector, launching the Estrdad program to help SMEs recover government fees, reducing their financial burdens and raising their survival rate in the market. The amounts recovered by small and medium companies have exceeded SAR 430 million so far, including 113 beneficiary companies in Hail Region with recovered amounts of around SAR 10 million.
Al-Rasheed said: “Monsha’at launched the Indirect Lending Initiative, seeking to provide financial solutions to SMEs through non-bank lending companies. The amounts provided to companies through the initiative have exceeded SAR 1 billion since its launch, in addition to the issuance of guarantees of more than SAR 589 million for the working capital product under the Kafalah program during the current year, which aims to provide financial guarantees to SMEs before banks and finance companies so that they can obtain the financing they need.”
The Governor of Monsha’at emphasized that Hail Region is one of the most important development regions in the Kingdom, with a total of 13,842 SMEs in the region, representing 99.89% of all enterprises. Monsha’at has therefore worked on several programs to serve the region, including the launch of the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Acceleration Program, and it is scheduled to implement the integrated capacity-building programs in Hail Region in the first quarter of next year.
Al-Rasheed explained that the Biban forum organized by Monsha’at is unique in bringing together everyone interested in the business sector and the supporting and enabling entities under one roof. In addition to its pioneering role, it is the first forum of its kind dedicated to SMEs, and it is not limited to the theoretical side of the business sector but offers suitable solutions to support SMEs and abounds with scientific discussion panels and specialized workshops.
He explained that the Biban forum is an innovative way of spreading the culture of entrepreneurship and freelance work, as it embraces a model of an integrated entrepreneurship ecosystem, reflected in Biban’s components to stimulate the entry of new enterprises into the market by taking in entrepreneurs and innovators, helping them launch projects and incubating them in business accelerators, incubators, and coworking spaces, and facilitating business and access to financing.
He noted that the Biban forum started in Riyadh Region at the end of 2017, then moved to Qassim Region, Aseer Region, Makkah Region, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah Region, and the Eastern Province. In its previous stops, it drew an attendance of more than 301,000 young men and women, hosted more than 1,306 workshops and around 3,057 guidance sessions, and attracted the participation of more than 370 sponsors and service providers.
The attendees then watched a video presentation on Bab Monsha’at and success stories, and a live meeting with male and female entrepreneurs. An agreement was also concluded between Monsha’at and Hail Chamber to open horizons of success for fifty entrepreneurs.
At the end of the ceremony, the Governor of Hail honored the success partners of the Biban forum, and His Royal Highness and his deputy received two commemorative shields on this occasion.
The Biban Hail forum, held at the Al-Rawshan Exhibition Center, will offer its training, qualification, guidance, and other services to visitors from among SME owners and entrepreneurs over four days, from 4 to 11 p.m.