The Chairman of the Asharqia Chamber, Abdul Hakim bin Hamad Al-Ammar Al-Khaldi, said that the Kingdom has taken pioneering steps in strengthening small and medium enterprises, giving them multiple growth factors (procedural, organizational, and financing), providing the appropriate environment for their expansion and spread, and facilitating many procedures for doing business, Within an orientation that aims to make these enterprises one of the pillars of sustainable growth in the country, and affirms that all the factors provided by the state have greatly contributed to the growth of small and medium enterprises; He pointed out that government support and loans contributed to the growth of the average by 33%, and the ease of issuing licenses contributed to its growth by 18%, while electronic services alone contributed to the growth of the enterprises themselves by 69%, and the small by 38%.
The means for establishing continuity
For his part, the Governor of the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, Engineer Saleh bin Ibrahim Al-Rasheed, said that electronic commerce is now the means for the continuity and rise of small and medium-sized enterprises, referring to the great success achieved by those enterprises that relied on e-commerce during the pandemic period, and said that there are about 1,000 stores have been supported by establishments whose sales exceeded 60 million riyals and that 45 apps have received investments in various stages of their growth.
Al-Rasheed considered the e-commerce sector the largest sector in terms of total investments by 67% and the total number of deals by 22%. He pointed out that the most prominent investment rounds during the first half of 2020 were in the e-commerce sector, the most prominent of which is the investment round of the “ready” platform with a value of 137 million riyals. And the Nana platform with a value of 67.5 million riyals, and the Noon Academy with a value of 48.7 million riyals.
For his part, the Chairman of the Young Businessmen Council, Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Farraj, affirmed that the 2030 vision came as an opportunity to move this vital sector to broad horizons of expansion and spread, because it provided incentives and support at all levels, and opened new sectors that accommodate many of its pioneers. Today we see an increase in the number of small and medium enterprises by 14.54% over the past year, with total revenues amounting to more than 334 billion riyals, but it gives rise to optimism for a promising future for this sector, which it represents as the basis for the Kingdom's launch towards a diversified and sustainable economy.
Al-Farraj said that the forum, including the seven workshops accompanying it, and its attraction of global speakers, comes as an important step in supporting the growth and development process that our rational government is undertaking, and carrying its goals to spread the culture of self-employment, and provide opportunities for knowledge and access to the initiators of the people of this country Giver; He explained that this version of the forum seeks to introduce the best areas in which small and medium-sized enterprises can switch to e-commerce, as well as introducing the possible and financed entities and their support options presented, appreciating the government's efforts to support young entrepreneurs in various fields and pushing them to take their positions in the national economy. And its keenness to qualify them and provide them with the necessary skills to go into economic work.
In the first dialogue session
Small and medium enterprises need motivation, the injection of competencies, and flexibility in legislation
In the first dialogue session of the Virtual Small and Medium Enterprises Forum 2020, which was held under the title "Digital Competition for the Retail Sector", the President of the Saudi Restaurants Association "Qout", His Highness Prince Al-Waleed bin Nasser bin Farhan Al Saud, spoke about the regulations and legislation related to e-commerce, where he called for accelerating the enactment of Legislation and regulations to keep pace with the acceleration in growth rates in the sector.
Prince Al-Waleed said during the session moderated by Ibrahim Al-Suhaibani, a member of the Business Youth Council, that the nature of the consumer has changed and therefore companies and stores must change. 50 percent of the practices are in companies, and we have noticed that clearly in the supply sector, and now it has started in the fashion, beauty, and jewelry sector as well.
His Highness the Amir stated that the consumer domain has become global as he buys his needs from everywhere in the world, a fact that we must understand, and this is what made the large companies in the world lead the e-commerce sector, which created great and fierce competition in this field, and from here we must To be more flexible in legislation and regulations, to be an obstacle to this trade, and we must also protect this new trade from the great competition taking place in the world.
For his part, the CEO of Mint Application Company, Engineer Sami El-Helweh, stressed that one of the biggest challenges facing the small and medium enterprises sector in the e-commerce activity is the lack of competencies in this field, and the technical competencies as it is known are the cornerstone for the work of this new trade, and it is difficult to attract Or persuade the competencies in companies abroad without providing them with appropriate incentives.
Al-Hilweh pointed to the foreign investor's competition, as he said that this will only happen with the presence of technical cadres capable of that, stressing that the competencies in the field of technology and those with accumulated experience, whenever they are found in any sector - and this is a rare case - will make the difference, pointing out that what is happening now Initiatives that pump in technical competencies are good but not enough.
For his part, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Retail and E-Commerce Association, Mazen bin Saleh Al-Darrab, spoke about the importance of stimulation, especially for small and medium enterprises, as he said that this sector worked during the last period, especially during the period of the Corona pandemic without stimulation, and was able to grow naturally, and it is now time to stimulate and help it To develop his tools.
Al-Dharrab clarified that the small and medium enterprises sector needs many different initiatives that will advance it and help it to complete its role in contributing to the development of the national economy, noting that the electronic commerce system did not have a clear system and mechanism of action in the past and that the current in force is originally An old system that was formulated a long time ago, and work on its basis actually began 6 months ago.
Al-strike indicated that motivation is the main player for the coming period, so there must be support for this sector and a preference also during the coming period, and we must not wait for the employees of the small and medium enterprises sector to come to us to tell us their challenges, concerns, and aspirations, but we must precede them in that and this is the role The natural thing after the legislative period is to work to stimulate the sector and its development.
In the second and third dialogue sessions
E-commerce is the commerce of the future and 84% of SMEs can take advantage of the available opportunities
In the second session, moderated by a member of the Eastern Business Youth Council, Muhammad Al-Muhammadi, and titled The Future Economy and Realizing the Kingdom's Vision 2030, the Undersecretary for Digital Capacity Development at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Dr.Ahmed Al-Thunayan, said that e-commerce is the trade of the future and that the ministry has adopted three axes To pave the environment for e-commerce, it has achieved many of the current achievements attested by international reports, so it worked to strengthen the structure of the digital economy, increase the readiness of society, and build digital capabilities, indicating that the Kingdom has jumped the number of homes connected to the optical fiber network to about 3 million homes, and it is now coming Among the ten countries with the fastest Internet service provision.
With regard to non-cash payments, Al-Thunayan said that the percentage of non-cash payments increased in the year 2020 to 36% compared to 24% last year and that there are about nine electronic payments wallets with about 4 million subscribers.
Al-Thunayan said, “We are working on developing digital capabilities through three main channels: future skills, raising digital awareness and empowering women in the communications and information technology sector. Entrepreneurs have had a major role in coming up with innovative models and programs that have supported us in the Kingdom's successes in terms of Concerning digital transformation, he pointed out that the Ministry provided many incentives to local companies. Today, the government procurement system favored local companies over foreign ones.
Al-Thunayan indicated that the ministry paid attention to human cadres as the cornerstone of the development process and enabling the journey of digital transformation, so setting up specific programs to qualify human capital in the sector was at the top of the priorities, objectives, and pillars of the ambitious strategy for developing the communications and information technology sector that was adopted, indicating that it was done. Training of 129,000 young men and women to bridge the digital gap in the labor market.
For his part, the Deputy Governor of the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, Engineer Rayan Al-Fayez, said that there are about 84% of small and medium enterprises that can benefit from the great opportunities in the field of e-commerce, and he referred to the group of programs launched by the authority to stimulate enterprises towards e-commerce. Mentioning, for example, the ambitious program for e-commerce, which encourages the targeted enterprises to adopt smart strategies that qualify them to overcome the challenges that enable them to succeed, and the program for converting medium-sized companies to e-commerce, which aims to enable medium enterprises to convert to e-commerce to drive their growth and enhance Its competitiveness, and creating opportunities to expand its activity.
Al-Dhakir explained during the session moderated by a member of the Business Youth Council, Abdulrahman Al-Afaliq, that the electronic transformation has shortened many procedures and saved time and effort. Clearing.
Al-Zakir said that the customs broker can now finish all his transactions through electronic services and with an immediate result. On the existence of exemptions, Al-Zakir said that the exemptions are for the military industries in addition to the presence of diplomatic and industrial exemptions.
He stated that if there is a high level of commitment to import requirements, it will be matched by a high level of dealing and trust, and thus shipments will exit quickly and vice versa, indicating periodic meetings with express transportation companies to complete the stages of electronic connectivity before the end of the current year.
For his part, General Supervisor of Trade Affairs at the Saudi Post, Abdullah Al-Jali, said that Saudi Post is undergoing a major transformation to raise the level of capabilities in the service of the logistical sector, indicating the start of the development process in the transportation of materials and logistical support, including electronic commerce.
Al-Jali pointed out that the incoming from the logistics sector arrives in large quantities to the Kingdom and all relevant government agencies are working hard to facilitate the task of ending their transactions, indicating that there are great challenges in this sector, many of which have been overlooked.
Al-Jali stated that the Post, in line with moving its services to high levels, has become imperative to raise its capabilities and this is what made it continue in the human cadre as well as the available capabilities and digital transformation of all its services.
On the one hand, the managing director of Zajil Al-Sorayai Company, Yasser bin Abdulaziz Al-Qadi, said that the Kingdom is witnessing a major shift to electronic commerce as well as the world.
Al-Kady pointed out that the technical development in the Kingdom has kept pace with the transformation of the consumer, as the relationship between the customer and the carrier was blurred in the past, but now there is a legislator that puts in place the regulations that protect the consumer and greatly reduce the existing uncertainty, pointing out that the number of Internet users in the Kingdom reaches 24 million A user, therefore, the legislator must take care of this sector.
The judge said that electronic payments have developed in Zajil, as it used to be 13 percent and now it has reached 88 percent.
The judge indicated that interest in electronic commerce has become very high, especially after the approval of the Electronic Commerce Board.
