Saudi Arabia has claimed that women own 45% of the start-up companies in the Kingdom. In its latest report, the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at) has mentioned that start-up companies, owned by women, reached 45% of total such companies in the first half of 2022, almost double the percentage recorded in 2017.

According to the Saudi Authorities, there is an increase in women’s participation in business because of their empowerment, especially in the world of entrepreneurship. It proves that the competitive advantage of small and medium enterprises can be enhanced through skill development programmes and the integration of technology into business operations, mentioned the Saudi Government in a statement.

As per official data published by the General Authority, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises was 892,063 in the West Asian nation by the end of June 2022, an increase of 25.6% compared to the final quarter of 2021. Meanwhile, the food and beverage sector received the highest amount of investment, USD 178 million, in January-June 2022. The volume of total investment in start-up companies jumped 244% to reach USD 580 million during this period on an annual basis.

The Saudi coffee-manufacturing sector, too, has performed well in recent times. Currently, the Kingdom has 400,000 coffee trees, and this sector could attract a total investment of around USD 319 million over the next decade.

The Saudi Authorities have already started promoting entrepreneurship on its soil and foreign investments in an attempt to diversify its economy. This move is aimed at reducing the dependence of the National Economy on oil.

In 2021, the contribution of the non-oil sector to the National Economy was 60.2% of the GDP, as per the data published by the Saudi Statistics Authority.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das