In a workshop held yesterday in the Asharqia Chamber:
No complex requirements for Saudi banks to support SMEs
Banks support not only funding but also included marketing, consulting and training
The workshop (banking services in the Kingdom for small and medium enterprises), carried out by the Asharqia Chamber in cooperation with the Committee of Information and Banking Awareness of Saudi banks, stressed the importance of organization, seriousness and clarity, as the most prominent specifications that ensure that these facilities receive support from banks, even if these facilities are emerging.
The Secretary-General of the Banking Information and Awareness Committee at the Saudi banks, Talaat Hafez, said that the SME sector is a sector that needs more support because it is the main engine of trade movement and carries added value to the national economy. and raise the level of its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP), under the Kingdom's vision 2030
He added during the workshop that was held on Monday 18/11/2019 at the Asharqia Chamber that the 29 banks in the Kingdom (including 13 Saudi banks), which support these facilities, take two ways, the first within the social responsibility and that directed to entrepreneurs, and may come within the framework of research For profitability, the risk profile is fully responsible for people's deposits, so it seeks to have support in place, even though SMEs are more flexible and easier than large mature ones.
During the workshop, which was attended by a large number of businessmen and businesswomen from various activities, Hafez pointed out that the bank is no longer the role of a financier not only for enterprises, but also plays additional roles, such as providing consulting services, technical support and training, and marketing, but that some banks have an integrated portfolio of support. produced them independent investment companies, so the severe banks to support this sector, the requirements may turn a blind eye to the financial statements, and based on the current account movement, and all of these requirements are for the benefit of the investor.
He pointed out that the ball may be in the court of the investor, who has to organize himself, and provide banks with a real picture of his seriousness and activity, so that he can support it, noting that the most vulnerable to failures and exit the market are those that have no plan and no system and no road map clear, therefore, it is in the interest of the businessman to be an organization, then gets the support, and the risks are less, banks if you find seriousness, commitment and clarity of the investor will not hesitate to support him in various ways and means, does not imagine that a bank supports a project is not clear, and the owner does not he has a goal, and he has no concept of his project.
He noted that there is a follow-up from the top of the state to the question offered by banks for small enterprises and medium-sized, which means that support these facilities represents a year trend in the state, approved by the Vision 2030. Pointing out that any bank if some of the requirements placed to provide wanted to support it output from the accumulated experience, we have a hundred-year-old banks, you may see dangers perhaps absent from the owner of the project, whereupon drew attention on them, and fair competition among banks to provide support, if you do not react the customer with a view what the bank can move towards another bank.
Hafez said that the support provided by banks arrived at times until the project was financed and its profits, which was 100%, the value of the support up to 5 million riyals for a small or medium project.
Another part, the head of the local corporate banking team at Samba Bank Bader al-Turki said that the banks in the Kingdom have committed themselves to supporting small and medium enterprises so that they can grow and increase their contribution to the national economy, in order to achieve one of the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, as if it grows will reflect positively on the national economy. In this regard, the banks' support for these establishments has witnessed wide developments, and we are witnessing an increase in the number of beneficiaries of these services.
He said that startups can also be supported to get support up to 1.8 million riyals, and this is only after reviewing his plan and project and what he wants to do, but that new customers do not put them additional guarantees.
He added that there are many ways to finance projects provided by banks to small and medium enterprises, which are up to grow, and that others provide support for start-ups make them stand on their own and then go to the banks to get additional support.
The workshop witnessed lengthy discussions that lasted for about two hours, which focused on the axis of benefiting from the services provided by banks to the private sector, in particular, small and medium enterprises.
