Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — About 34 percent of Saudi workers were employed in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) last year, local Arabic daily Al-Watan reported on Tuesday quoting the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

The ministry said SMEs contribute about 20 percent to the Kingdom’s GDP.

Economic expert Walid Fahd Al-Otaibi expects SMEs to be the main employer of Saudi youth in the coming years.

He said the contribution of SMEs to exports is only 5 percent in Saudi Arabia. But in 15 other leading economies of the world, it ranges between 31 percent and 60 percent.

This means the contribution of SMEs to the Kingdom’s economy is small compared to other advanced economies, he added.

According to Otaibi, microenterprises have one to five employees working full time with revenues going from zero to SR3 million.

Small enterprises usually have 9-49 employees working full time and having revenues from SR3 million to SR40 million.

Medium enterprises are those with 50-249 full time employees with revenues ranging between SR40 million and SR200 million.