500,000 Jobs Targeted as Saudi Cabinet Approves New SME Growth Plan
The Saudi Cabinet approved the National Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprises Strategy on Tuesday, launching a national blueprint designed to generate more than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs across the Kingdom. Local business owners, commercial investors, and foreign technology founders fall within the scope of the framework, which establishes 13 distinct initiatives to expand enterprise operations and trim corporate overhead.
Kingdom Targets 35% GDP Contribution and Reviews Sector Saudisation Rules
The newly approved strategy mandates a review of minimum Saudisation requirements on a sector-by-sector basis alongside structural measures to lower operational business costs. The plan creates targeted programmes for open commercial innovation, provides funding access for startups operating within industrial cities and special economic zones, and grants smaller firms expanded participation in major government procurement projects. To aggregate market intelligence, government bodies will build a comprehensive database for small and medium enterprises linked across all relevant state institutions. Minister of Commerce and Monsha’at Chairman Dr Majid Al Qasabi confirmed the initiatives aim to position Saudi Arabia first globally on the entrepreneurial skills and knowledge indicator by 2030, supported by new regulatory enablers and incentives for commercial lending institutions.
The strategy expands upon economic diversification frameworks established under Vision 2030, which focus on expanding private sector output and scaling domestic non-oil trade.
