SMEs

Saudi Arabia eases regulation to support SMEs and Entrepreneurs

Saudi Arabia will exempt small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from commerce fees register for three years as the country plans to boost the number of start-ups in the economy. Fees will start in the fourth and fifth year, but at a reduced rate of SAR 500 (USD 133) for entrepreneurs and SAR 200 for entrepreneurs with a capital of less than SAR 375,000 and whose employees do not exceed five in number. This initiative was taken to support and reduce...

Landscape of valuation services in GCC

Interview with Mr. M. R. Raghu, CEO, Marmore MENA Intelligence What is the market size of private firms in GCC? Private firms encompass of any non-listed firms, these firms could be large family run businesses or small and medium enterprises. Private firms have great importance in terms of its contribution to the GDP for their respective economies and for employment generation. In the GCC, SMEs constitute close to 90% (i.e. about 1.5 million SMEs) of the total companies’ base. The...

Importance of SMEs in GCC: Challenges amid COVID and way forward

Interview with Mr. M.R.Raghu, CEO, Marmore MENA Intelligence Are SMEs very important for the GCC region? How have SMEs contributed to the region? Small-to-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are vital to the economic development of the country as they foster innovation, entrepreneurship and create large-scale employment opportunities. The subject of SMEs touches upon many aspects of a nation’s economic network. By its very nature, SMEs can sprout up anywhere along the output value chain of a country, ranging from small shops to...

How can GCC Banks reset for growth beyond COVID-19?

Interview with Mr. M.R.Raghu, CEO, Marmore MENA Intelligence How GCC banks reset for growth beyond the COVID-19 crisis? The performance of the GCC banking sector had already started to get impacted before the coronavirus pandemic on account of global economic issues, however, the whole situation got exacerbated rapidly on account of the pandemic. For instance, UAE listed banks’ cumulative net income in 2020 witnessed the first negative growth in over 5 years, falling by 42% over 2019 on account of...

هل يمكن أن تمثل الشركات الناشئة حلًا لخلق فرص عمل؟

The GCC region too has caught-up with this global phenomenon and has some successful start-up stories to boast about. Start-ups are being projected as forerunners of economic growth through job creation and also pursued as the solution for job creation. However, to what extent this presumption about start-ups holds well is debatable. Do start-ups create jobs? Table: Increase / Decrease in Employment Sectors 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Construction (27,780) (24,608) 99,087 69,313 56,937 Trade and Repair Services 56,312 41,756...