Saudi Cabinet Approves SME Strategy With 500,000-Job Target
Thirteen initiatives aim to raise small firms' share of GDP to 35% and put the kingdom first in the world for entrepreneurial skills by 2030.
Tariq Benali Tariq Benali covers business and corporate news across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted, tracking the deals, leadership moves and regulatory shifts behind the region's companies. tariq@anecdoted.com
Saudi Arabia's cabinet approved a national strategy for entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprises on Tuesday. It carries two headline targets: 500,000 jobs, counted as direct and indirect positions, and a 35% share of gross domestic product for the sector. The Saudi Press Agency reported the approval.
Thirteen initiatives make up the program. They are meant to speed growth at existing firms, draw innovative startups in from abroad and lower the expense of operating inside Saudi Arabia.
Three areas get most of the attention. One is money: widening the routes SMEs use to raise finance and reach markets, and giving lenders a reason to serve them. Another is capability, or what a small company can actually execute. The third is the rulebook, which the strategy wants reworked so that firms operate more efficiently and with less friction.
What the initiatives include
- Attracting innovative global startups and localizing them.
- Reviewing minimum Saudization requirements by sector, the quotas that govern how many Saudi nationals a company must employ.
- Reducing business costs.
- Improving financial awareness and literacy.
- Developing financing mechanisms.
- Incentivizing institutions that finance SMEs.
Majid Al-Qasabi, the commerce minister who chairs Monsha'at, the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, said delivery depends on agencies working in concert.
"Implementation relies on the integration of efforts among relevant entities, enabling enterprises to capitalize on opportunities across various sectors, expand their presence in value chains and major projects, and access new local and international markets."
Several initiatives address the same problem from different angles. Business costs get separate treatment, as do financial literacy among owners and managers, the mechanisms through which they borrow, and the incentives offered to the institutions that lend to them.
The strategy sits inside Vision 2030, the kingdom's program for enlarging the private sector and helping smaller companies grow, expand and compete at home and abroad. It is written as a long-horizon plan for private sector development rather than a single campaign, and it directs effort toward the country's wider economic and development priorities.
Some of the ground has already been covered. Employment at Saudi SMEs reached 8.88 million in 2025, ahead of the 7.55 million targeted for 2027, the Vision 2030 annual report says. Bank lending to SMEs accounted for 11.3% of all bank loans in 2025, past the 11% goal set for 2030. The SME Bank, wider use of fintech and risk-sharing programs have supported the rise.
One target remains open. By 2030 the strategy wants Saudi Arabia ranked first in the world on the indicator for entrepreneurial skills and knowledge.
