RIYADH — The number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia has exceeded 978,000, with an increase up to 9.7% compared to the Q2 of 2022, the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha'at) announced. In its SME Monitor report for the Q3 of 2022, Monsha'at clarified that Riyadh has the largest percentage of total SMEs in Saudi Arabia by 36.1%, while Makkah has 20.6% of them and Sharqiyah with 12.5%. The SMEs are being distributed into a wide range of economic activities, as the wholesale and retail trade sector represents about 30.7% of the activities, followed by the construction and building sector by 20.7%, then the Support services management sector with a percentage of 11.6%. Monsha'at noted that the expected increase in the size of the financial technology companies by 2025 will be 65% compared to the current year, noting that the venture capital system in Saudi Arabia has recorded a significant increase in the investment financing by 93% during the Q3 of 2022 on an annual basis. The emerging market has recorded huge deals during this quarter, as the percentage of investment financing obtained by emerging Saudi companies in the field of technology have increased by 266%, reaching SR3.1 billion until the end of the Q3 of this year. Monsha'at added that Al-Jouf region is producing about 67% from olive oil in Saudi Arabia, and has more than 5 million olive trees planted on an area of 52,000 acres. The sector's investments diversified due to the expansion of production lines by the producers through the use of olives, as they began to use them in other additional fields such as cosmetics and perfumes, Monsha'at said.
