Riyadh: The official Saudi statistics on Sunday revealed that the establishments owned by women amounted to 45 percent of the total owners of start-up companies in the Kingdom.
According to a report issued by the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at), the percentage of enterprises owned by women reached 45 percent, of the total owners of start-ups, until the first half of 2022, which is double the percentage achieved in 2017.
This increase comes as a result of empowering women in the world of entrepreneurship, which ensures the enhancement of competitive advantages for small and medium enterprises through skills development programs and the integration of technologies in business operations.
In this context, the report stated that the number of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Kingdom reached 892,063 by the end of the first half of this year, an increase of 25.6 percent compared to the last quarter of 2021.
The report stated that the food and beverage sector obtained the largest percentage of investment financing in the first half of this year.
The food and beverage sector managed to obtain investments amounting to about $178 million over the first half of 2022.
The investment financing obtained by Saudi startups grew by 244 per cent to reach 2.19 billion riyals (580 million dollars) in the first half of 2022 on an annual basis.
On the other hand, the report sheds light on Saudi coffee and the great activity that its industry has been witnessing in the recent period.
The Kingdom enjoys more than 400,000 coffee trees, and investments in this sector amounted to nearly $319 million, by the Saudi Coffee Company, over the next ten years.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has tended to promote entrepreneurship on its soil and foreign investments, as part of its strategy to diversify the economy.
The contribution of the non-oil sector in the Kingdom to the gross domestic product amounted to about 60.2 percent, according to the data of the Saudi Statistics Authority for the year 2021.
