Saudi Arabia ranks in top 40 countries to start business in

Saudi Arabia has ranked 30th among the top 40 countries globally for online searches of the term “how to start a business in…”, according to SEMrush, an online digital marketing firm.

Two more GCC countries, UAE and Kuwait, are in the top 40 most searched countries from a list of 195 countries worldwide, which compiled online searches by people around the world seeking to set up small and medium sized enterprises (SME).

The number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia reached 949,900 with 4.7 million employees during 2017, a statement said citing statistics by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

The wholesale and retail trade sectors acquired the largest number of SMEs with 452,900, followed by manufacturing industries with 103,700 SMEs, the data highlighted.

"The significant number of manufacturing-related SME's in Saudi Arabia, combined with the Saudi Arabia appearing in the top 40 global online searches for "starting a business" demonstrate that potential export opportunities are vast for the Kingdom," noted Adam Zeidan, MENA region Corporate Communications Manager at SEMrush.

"SMEs are critical to all economies around the globe and will particularly assume a noteworthy part in the non-oil-dependent part of Saudi economy. SMEs add to the economy by opening employment doors for Saudi's and motivating youth and female segments of society. The SME sector acts as a nursery for future bigger firms. Experts agree that SMEs in Saudi Arabia can be an additional economic launchpad for the Kingdom since growing microenterprises, in turn, impacts savings and investments in Saudi Arabia."