MADINAH — Prince Faisal bin Salman, Emir of Madinah, patronized the closing ceremony of the Start Smart Conference for the MIT Enterprise Forum and Startup Competition in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. Prince Saud bin Khalid Al Faisal, Deputy Governor of Madinah, was also present.

King Salman International Convention Center in Madinah hosted the events and activities of the conference, which was organized by Jameel Community and Bab Rizq Jameel in cooperation with the Economic Development Center in Madinah.

Governor of the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha'at) Eng. Saleh Al-Rasheed, during a speech, noted that launching the Saudi Vision 2030 has contributed to realizing the first place globally for Saudi Arabia among 190 countries in the business environment reforms, which facilitated procedures for business doers, according to the Ease of Doing Business Report 2020 issued by the World Bank.

Saudi Arabia also ranked fourth at NECI Index and first at the response of the government and entrepreneurs to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic among 44 countries according to GEM report 2020/2021.

In addition, it contributed to the increase of venture capital from SR112 million to SR2.05 billion over five years, making the Kingdom realize the second rank in the venture capital in 2021. Saudi Arabia also advanced in the growth of innovative facilities to the seventh rank according to the Global Competitiveness Report, and the steady increase in the number of small and medium enterprises despite the circumstances created by the pandemic from 560,000 facilities to 663,000.

Later on, Prince Faisal bin Salman honored the nine winning teams in this exceptional edition that brought together entrepreneurs from across the Arab world. The winning teams in the three tracks received financial awards.

The forum included the participation of 60 international startups from across the world and 60 Saudi innovative companies from MIT Enterprise Forum Startup competition, which aimed to attract local, regional and international investors to the Kingdom and contribute to realizing the wider economic ambitions of the country in a way that accords with Saudi Vision 2030. The event provided startups around the world with an opportunity to expand their businesses in the Saudi market, meet Saudi investors and facilitate the procedures for these enterprises to compete in the Saudi market. — SPA