Saudi Arabia is one of the most competitive countries among the G20 group of nations in the average time it takes to start a business, a survey conducted by the London-based accountancy firm, Ernst & Young on entrepreneurship in the world's top 20 economies, said here Friday. A three-quarters of Saudi entrepreneurs interviewed for the survey said that access to funding was not a constraint and that they had easy access to the capital. This is partly because of special programs that exist to facilitate bank lending to entrepreneurs. Public aid was viewed as one of the funding instruments that saw particularly strong improvement, with 72% of respondents saying it had improved over the last five years. According to the survey, Saudi Arabia is also among the most competitive in the number of days it takes to start a business, at an average of just five days in 2010, representing a fall of 59 days since 2005. “The entrepreneurial flair of Saudis has been given a major boost by these initiatives, which have been warmly welcomed by entrepreneurs in the Kingdom,” Jim Turley, Chairman and CEO, Ernst & Young said “The government has recognized the important role that entrepreneurship will play in generating the millions of new jobs required to sustain the economy over the coming decade. This provides an excellent model for the rest of the region.” Regulation and taxation in Saudi Arabia were viewed positively by the entrepreneurs in terms of starting up a business. Business regulations were reported to have improved by 80% of respondents and the ease of starting a business improved by 76%. The cost of starting a business is also quite low, at 7% of income per capita. Turley said that in uncertain economic times, governments around the world should be encouraging entrepreneurs to build businesses that create permanent jobs. “The Kingdom is creating the right conditions for entrepreneurial activity to flourish while, at the same time, crucially avoiding penalizing failure,” he said. Abdulaziz Al-Sowailim, Chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young Middle East and North Africa said the entrepreneurs in the Kingdom are highly skilled due to the quality of their training and education. “Government initiatives that provide Saudi youth with the knowledge and skills necessary to establish their own businesses are the examples of the Kingdom's commitment to fostering entrepreneurship,” he said.
