RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Social Development Bank signed 11 cooperation agreements during the Entrepreneurship and Modern Business Practices Forum, or DeveGo 2025, spanning key sectors including finance, education, and energy, as well as healthcare, heritage, the non-profit sector, and freelance work, alongside government ministries and official authorities.
The agreements reflect the bank’s strategy to build an integrated system of financial and non-financial empowerment that meets the needs of entrepreneurs, start-ups, and micro-enterprises, enhancing their capacity for growth in promising sectors.
SDB CEO Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Hamidi said the forum serves as a national platform bringing together local and international experts to discuss developments in the entrepreneurship sector, in line with the bank’s mission to support young entrepreneurs and micro and start-up enterprises.
Al-Hamidi added: “We are witnessing a golden era of entrepreneurship in the Kingdom, transitioning from limited support to the largest entrepreneurial movement in the country. The number of enterprises has grown from 430,000 in 2016 to approximately 1.7 million this year.”
The CEO added that since its establishment, the bank has provided total financing of SR166 billion ($44.27 billion), of which more than SR46 billion has supported over 600,000 entrepreneurs, 59 percent of whom are Saudi women.
