Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Ali, some of the numbers that stuck out for me were the number of employees, for example,
00:05in small and medium enterprises reaching 7.8 million people during the course of the year
00:122024. That's up from 4.7 million four or five years ago. So that's on track. And it goes some
00:19way, doesn't it, towards explaining why the unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia is at a
00:23historic low level? Well, there's multiple reasons for that. But perhaps one of the most interesting
00:28ones is the fact that one of the metrics reported earlier this week was the female participation
00:37rate, the female employment participation rate of 30%, which was targeted for 2030, has already
00:44been met. There has been a drastic increase in female employment participation rate. This
00:49is not to discount the work that's taking place across broader industrial development
00:58initiatives. You know, on top of that, there are studies that show that one in three people
01:04under the age of 65 have an interest in starting a small business. And I think what's taking
01:11place is, first of all, a generally greater rate of people participating in employment and
01:18the female segment being one of them, but also an evolving culture, a changing culture towards
01:24SME enterprises, SME enterprises, and a general entrepreneurial spirit across the region.