Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – An e-portal for setting up small businesses will be launched soon based on an initiative announced by the ministers of labor, finance, commerce and industry and rural and municipal affairs during the Young Entrepreneurs' Exhibition in Jeddah. During their visit to the exhibition Thursday night, Adel Fakieh, Minister of Labor, and Tawfeeq Al-Rabia, Minister of Commerce and Industry, expressed dissatisfaction at how their ministries were coordinating with each other in helping entrepreneurs set up small businesses. Fakieh added: “We're going to announce new plans that will be beneficial to small and medium businesses soon.” Although there are over 800,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs), they have not been successful in achieving Saudization targets, according to the minister of labor. The ministry will announce after the Haj season a new Nitaqat system for these businesses that will treat each one according to its size, he added. A lack of transportation services for female workers makes it difficult for the ministry to Saudize this sector, he claimed. However, he added, the Human Resources Development Fund is working on an initiative to provide transportation services for female workers and set up daycare centers inside factories and companies with 50 or more female staff members. He said: “The distant locations of factories make it difficult for women to work in them.” Al-Rabia announced a new plan to provide capital to young Saudis interested in starting small businesses. The main challenge facing young businessmen is financing; bank loans for them do not exceed 2 percent of the project cost, he added. His ministry has launched an initiative to build over 1,000 factories for small businesses in cooperation with the Saudi Industrial Property Authority, he pointed out. He added: “Our ministry is working on facilitating procedures for SMEs. “We're also working on a plan to build healthy industrial cities to facilitate easier transport for female workers.” Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah, Minister of Education, stressed the importance of training students and polishing their skills in business and industry. He added: “I still believe the Ministry of Education has a lot to achieve. We're going to work silently and the general public will see our achievements in the future.” Rania Salamah, chairwoman of the Young Businesswomen Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said 82 percent of women who participated in this exhibition were able to start their businesses without any help while 53 percent started their ventures without conducting market research because they could not afford them. She called on Fakieh and Al-Rabia to make it easier for young businesswomen who wish to obtain commercial registration for new enterprises.
