Saudi banks have helped facilitate funds exceeding SR17 billion to more than 8,500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under the Kafala program.
The program aims to promote financial support for Saudi SMEs, said Talat Zaki Hafiz, secretary-general of the media and banking awareness committee at Saudi Banks.
Hafiz was addressing a press conference in Riyadh on Tuesday, He added: "The eighth Kafala awareness campaign, which aims to shed light on the Kafala program, a collaboration between the Ministry of Finance represented by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) and Saudi banks to promote financing to the SMEs."
As we know SMEs face challenges and one of these challenges is to get financial support from banks. To address this issue, the Kafala program was created to support SMEs, he said, adding that it is a very successful program.
"Started in 2006 with financing to the tune of 22 million in total, it has benefited 36 SMEs then but today if you look at the numbers, it has multiplied manifold. Today, the amount of financing provided by Saudi banks exceeds SR17 billion and there are more than 8,500 SMEs benefiting from the program."
