SIDF Stimulates Small Businesses, Entrepreneurships

Saudi Arabia supports small and medium businesses and entrepreneurships. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia supports small and medium businesses and entrepreneurships. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

SIDF Stimulates Small Businesses, Entrepreneurships

Saudi Arabia supports small and medium businesses and entrepreneurships. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia supports small and medium businesses and entrepreneurships. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Industrial and Development Fund (SIDF) has been seeking to stimulate small and medium enterprises by financing projects in the manufacturing sector within Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

In order to promote the industrial sector and provide it with its financial needs, the SIDF has provided a package of innovative specialized financing programs with many payment facilities.

The Fund adopted “Mutajadida” (renewable) program, which aims to achieve national aspirations in this field by building sustainable industrial utilities for renewable energy, stimulating production projects to serve the industrial, commercial and agricultural sectors, and raising the quality of products specialized in solar and wind energy, and aligning them with local and global demand.

The SIDF has also launched the “Afaaq” (Horizons) program, which contributes to the growth and motivation of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs through early financing with payment facilities.

Another program, called “Tawtin” (nationalization), seeks to raise the level of spending to maximize local content by supporting existing national products.

The Saudi Industrial Development Fund is the main financial supporter of the sectors of industry, mining, energy and logistic services listed under the National Industry and Logistics Services Development Program (NDLP).

This will support Saudi Arabia’s transformation into a major industrial power, and a global logistical platform, as one of the most important targets of Vision 2030.

The Fund has approved loans worth SAR 12.5 billion riyals (USD 3.3 billion) during the 2019 fiscal year, with an increase of 32 percent compared to 2018.



China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
TT

China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.