His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah Region, emphasized the prominent and vital role of the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority “Monsha’at” and the many services it provides to entrepreneurs through support, assistance, and consultation, which contributes to creating new economic opportunities that Monsha’at oversees and provides with every means of success and continuity.
Speaking as he inaugurated the SMEs Support Center in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, in the presence of the Governor of Monsha’at, Engineer Saleh bin Ibrahim Al-Rasheed, His Royal Highness stated that since the fifth Biban Forum, held in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah more than a year ago, the focus has been on ensuring that the forum would not be a passing event but a gateway to continuous work in the region. He noted that a great deal of effort and joint coordination with the relevant entities went into launching this center, which was completed, praise be to Allah, despite the pandemic that affected all aspects of life, so that it now stands side by side with the Namaa Al-Munawwarah Endowment, founded by several businessmen and companies operating in the region to support small and medium enterprises and businesses.
The Governor of Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah Region noted that the new center is a symbol of integration between the private and public sectors, as the initiatives of both sectors are housed in the same place and work without barriers or obstacles of any kind toward a single goal. He emphasized the generous spending by the wise government, may Allah support it, to support the youth sector and develop small and medium businesses.
His Royal Highness toured the center’s facilities and listened to a detailed explanation of its tasks and objectives, which center on supporting and enabling the SME sector in the region and ensuring its continuity by providing all of Monsha’at’s services, in addition to direct services such as business support and facilitation, access to funding and investment, and deal-making through the deals room inside the center. The center also offers business networks dedicated to building a distinctive business environment, sharing success stories, and holding many meetings with decision-makers in the SMEs Support Council and the Official’s Council meeting series, to ease access to information and to regulatory and development decisions.
The center also offers the consultation program, delivered through one-on-one sessions with specialized consultants of academic competence and commercial experience, who provide advice and answer the questions raised by entrepreneurs and SME owners in their field of specialization. It offers the guidance program, which aims to raise the culture of entrepreneurship in the community and provide advice and direction to initiators, entrepreneurs, and executives in SMEs, in addition to a variety of training programs to develop the managerial and professional capabilities of SME owners and employees and entrepreneurs in line with market needs. It also offers the business support program, through which business support consultants identify beneficiaries’ needs and refer them to the appropriate service or program provided by Monsha’at or one of its partners.
Monsha’at plans to expand its SMEs Support Centers across the Kingdom’s regions in the future, creating an environment that offers all micro, small, and medium enterprises the opportunity to thrive, by providing support services and programs suited to the size of each enterprise to strengthen its growth and competitiveness, in the belief in the importance of the SME sector in supporting the national economy, driving development, and expanding the production base.