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All goes well, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia will soon have a bank dedicated to serving only them. The news comes straight from the Minister of Commerce and Investment, Dr. Majid bin Abdullah al-Qasabi, who also added that the new initiative will be backed by the World Bank.

Dr. Qasabi presented a brief overview of the plan at the ninth ministerial conference in Dammam. He stated that the government has already approved a feasibility study to prepare the roadmap for establishing the new bank.

In fact, the Minister also hinted that the progress so far has been steady and fast with the competition and procurement systems already in their final stages. The bank, once it goes live, will bring along an added layer of support for the Kingdom’s SME sector, he pointed out.

The feasibility study is being carried out by the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Munshaat). In a conversation with the media, Munshaat Governor Saleh Al-Rasheed stated that the planned new bank is a part of several new initiatives that Munshaat plans on launching in 2019.

Dr. Qasabi also took the opportunity to laud the Saudi Business Center and the impact it is making on the ground by facilitating the convenience of having all tasks in one platform. It’s a vast improvement compared to the older approach that relied on a complicated network of different government bodies.