RIYADH — The Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (SMEA - Monshaat) announced that the number of beneficiaries of its recently launched initiatives reached more than 2.6 million. The initiatives were announced as part of Monshaat's efforts to assist the SME sector and entrepreneurs in overcoming the financial and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The Monshaat Support Council held a series of sessions focusing on the issues related to its efforts to confront the pandemic situation. The concluding session titled "Flexibility and adaptation of businesses for SMEs" was held in the presence of deputy minister of commerce for business; deputy minister of municipal and rural affairs for planning and programs, and the assistant deputy CEO for operations for branches and inspection at the Saudi Food and Drug Authority. The session, moderated by Khaled Al-Aqili, discussed how SMEs could adapt to the corona pandemic, and the most important initiatives that Monshaat and other entities are offering in this regard. Among the initiatives launched by Monshaat since the outbreak of the pandemic, include the virtual Monshaat Support Center, and the Monshaat Support Council, which brought together a number of decision makers with hosting discussions on developments in the SME sector. SMEA also launched Monshaat Academy that aims to provide training courses remotely in a number of areas, in addition to the application of Monshaat Windows, which was launched to provide electronic consultations to beneficiaries. In addition to all these, Monshaat also deferred dues under the Indirect Lending Initiative for a year.
