Riyadh – Mubasher: State-run Saudi Aramco identified 140 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) development opportunities across nine industrial sectors, with a more than $16 billion market gap, senior vice president of Technical Services Ahmad Al-Saadi said.
These SMEs represent a small part of Aramco’s $400 billion capital programme which will be implemented over the coming ten years, Al-Saadi added at the first US–Saudi SME forum in Los Angeles.
“SMEs now add just 20 % to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product (GDP), less than half the level in most industrialised nations,” the official further noted, adding that the Kingdom aims to raise the SMEs contribution to 35% of GDP.
Al-Saadi indicated that the oil-rich nation is planning to spur the US investments in this sector.
“Currently, more than 10,000 US suppliers are registered to do business with Saudi Aramco, with the company spending more than $30 billion on their goods and services in the past four years alone,” the official stated.
Earlier on Tuesday, the largest international oil firm revealed plans to start investments in non-metallic sector during the next period.
