Rashid Muhammad Al-Fawzan Al-Riyadh Being self-employed is not common culture in our country and other Gulf States. Before you ask me how I came to this conclusion or on what basis I have based my results, let me brief you on a report issued by Asiya Investments Company. Francisco Quintana, president of research, said in the report that three to four percent of the total population in Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates run their own businesses. “Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are different where 0.5 percent of Qataris run their own projects compared to 8 percent of Saudis managing their own businesses,” she said. Free business is a significant indicator of economic development for any national economy and it is on this indicator that development, solutions to unemployment, growth and the increase in income are based. If we want to know where we stand as GCC states compared to other countries in terms of free business and small enterprises, let us look at Japan, Europe and the USA. In Japan, the percentage of free enterprise nears 70 percent, Europe over 50 percent and the USA over 34 percent. In other words, 53 million enterprise owners have contributed $715 billion to the American economy. Let us look at the GCC states now and try to understand the reason why the youth in these countries are starting and running their own businesses. The report mentions two reasons: difficulties associated with starting a business and financial security. Both are true. Government agencies such as the ministries of Labor or Commerce and Industry, or the investment agencies together with various funds should start forming a body that only focuses on financing small businesses. When all the efforts are united under the umbrella of one single body linking all government agencies together and focusing on facilitating the difficulties facing young Saudi men and women and helping them start on the right foot and identify marketing opportunities, we will see good results. Raising youth awareness about private businesses and providing them with workshops and classes on this subject is important to find effective economic solutions. Being self-employed has promising opportunities for young men and women in light of the decreasing number of job opportunities in the private sector. It needs patience, perseverance, hard-work, determination and honesty. Falling or stumbling in the beginning should not be viewed as a barrier. Of course, the beginning will be difficult. Our youth should realize that opportunities will not come knocking at their doors. They should go and search for these opportunities in our market which is full of them. Starting a business is the best solution to unemployment and will preserve our national resources. The earnings our youth can make from running their own projects are unlimited. The most important thing is they should take the initiative.
