The Small and Medium Enterprises Bank of the National Development Fund has signed 20 agreements for joint cooperation and investment with a number of financial technology agencies, local and international investment funds and e-commerce platforms, with a value of more than one billion riyals, including: 10 agreements and memorandums of understanding signed by the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank with a value of 500 million riyals, and 3 Investment agreements signed by the Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC) at a value of 232 million riyals, in addition to 7 memorandums of understanding signed by the Financing Guarantee Program for Small and Medium Enterprises (Kafala) at a value of 300 million riyals and with a leverage of up to 5 times.
The signing came in the presence of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank, Yousef bin Abdullah Al-Bunyan, the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Emerging Companies in the Republic of Korea, Dr. Lee Young, the Acting CEO of the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank, Abdul Rahman bin Muhammad bin Mansour, and the CEO, a member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Venture Investment Company. (SVC) Dr. Nabil bin Abdul Qadir Koshak, and Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of the Finance Guarantee Program for Small and Medium Enterprises (Kafala) Hammam bin Abdulaziz Hashim, and a number of officials from the public and private sectors.
The acting CEO of the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank, Abd al-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Mansour, stated that the signing of cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding comes in order to diversify options, add new financing solutions for the small and medium enterprises sector, and raise its contributions to the gross domestic product to 35% by 2030, in order to achieve the goals of the vision programs. Saudi Arabia 2030, and contributing to enhancing its development and continuity of growth, as an extension of the support that the sector enjoys from the wise leadership.
He pointed out that the activation of the agency financing program (crowdfunding) comes as an extension of the financing and investment options provided by the bank to ensure the provision of the necessary financing for the growth of enterprises through concerted efforts between the financing guarantee program for small and medium enterprises (Kafala) and the Saudi Venture Investment Company (SVC), to ensure Sustainability and growth of enterprises through investment financing funds, indicating that the allocation of 500 million riyals comes as an extension of the previously allocated 10.5 billion riyals to support small and medium enterprises, bringing the number of financing agencies to 50 financing agencies that support the growth of the financing portal and the indirect lending initiative.
The designated CEO touched on what the bank achieved during the first quarter of this year 2023 by financing more than 300 small and medium enterprises, exceeding 1.1 billion riyals, in addition to what the Saudi Venture Investment Company (SVC) achieved, as its total investments amounted to 1.75 billion riyals by the end of the first quarter. The number of invested funds reached 32 funds, and the number of startups and small and medium-sized enterprises invested in through investment programs reached 674 companies, in addition to the growth in the value of financing the guarantee program during the first quarter by 17%, bringing the value of financing provided since the establishment of the program to more than 80 billion. Rial.
The agreements and memorandums signed by the bank included: “Lendo” company represented by its CEO Osama Al-Ra’i, “Manafea” company represented by its CEO Abdulaziz Al-Adwani, “Digital Platform” company represented by CEO Ammar Bakhit, “Foras” company represented by its CEO Nusseibeh Al-Rajhi, and Menasa “Baptism” represented by CEO Muhammad Al-Awaimer, “Sukuk Financial Company” represented by CEO Abdulaziz Al-Sayyari, “Lama” company represented by CEO Sumit Kotel, “Jahez International for Information Systems Technology” represented by Executive Vice President Mishaal Al-Mashari, and Menasa “Basket” is represented by Suhail Jaber, Vice President of Revenue, and the “Z” platform is represented by Mazen Al-Darrab, Director of Growth and CEO.
While the investment agreements for the Saudi Venture Investment Company (SVC) included: a joint investment agreement with the Korean Venture Investment Company with the aim of stimulating joint investment in Saudi and Korean startups, the second investment agreement with the “Shorooq Partners” fund with the aim of stimulating investment in Saudi startups, the third investment agreement With Partners for Growth for the purpose of doubling the investment in the Venture Capital Fund managed by Partners for Growth.
The Finance Guarantee Program for Small and Medium Enterprises (Kafala) also signed 7 memorandums of understanding with the aim of increasing financing opportunities for enterprises by activating the strategic partnership with financing companies in the financial technology sector, and allowing obtaining guarantees for the micro and small enterprises segment to obtain guarantees electronically through simplified steps.
