A young Saudi, who worked as an expediter at government offices, says he never expected a small stall he bought for SR5,000 would make him "the ambassador of the telecommunications sector" in the Kingdom. Hassan Asiri now owns three shops, has the second highest mobile telephone sales in the Western Region, and has a monthly income exceeding tens of thousands of riyals. In an interview, successful entrepreneur Asiri said he hoped to be an example to other Saudi youth. "It began three years ago when I went to a mobile repair shop to fix my phone set that had stopped functioning," he said. When the shopkeeper tried to charge an inexorbitant fee for the service, Asiri went home and spent several hours repairing his phone set himself. "This was a signal toward success. I got an idea to open a shop for repairing mobiles and for programming. In any case, it was one of my favorite hobbies. Since thn, I did not rest until I found a stall at a suitable location. I furnished the stall with cheap shelves, counters, showcases and accessories at a total cost of SR5,000," he said. Asiri later opened a larger store at a nearby supermarket with an annual rent of SR21,000. At that time, he said he feared he wouldn't succeed, but he overcame his fear and kept moving ahead, collecting more information on the sector along the way. Asiri said expatriate workers in the market used to wage a war against him. His daily income was nearly SR700, and he remained in the larger shop for three years. "After gaining a good experience in the telecommunications market, I decided to open another shop at a different location without support from any government authority. Thanks to Allah, I was successful," he said. "Then I opened a third shop. Thanks to Allah Almighty, now my shops are among those with the highest sales — they stand second in the Western Region in mobile telephone sales," a proud Asiri said. "I was interviewed by a famous satellite channel. I talked about Saudization in the Kingdom's telecommunications sector. After, I received a phone call from the minister of labor and social development who asked me to become an adviser at the ministry's Saudization committee to guide Saudi youth. From that point, we have started various campaigns to support Saudi youth enter the telecommunications sector, especially as this is a real and serious opportunity for the youth. The government is doing its utmost to support Saudi youth by all means," he said. "The Kingdom's telecommunication market is a golden chance for every ambitious Saudi youth who wants to become self-reliant and a successful entrepreneur. They will be able to earn a lot and live a good life."
