SME targets young entrepreneurs

Chairman of the Board and President of the National Fund for Small & Medium Enterprise Development, Abdullah Hamad Al-Jouan said yesterday the fund is currently pursuing a new policy to facilitate procedure for obtaining a license or land under full government support. Al-Jouan said, in an interview with Kuwaiti Daily Al-Anbaa, that the funds’ new strategy relies on working with various government establishments to make it easy for the young entrepreneurs to own their own Business. One of the aims of the fund is to increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of small and intermediate projects, he said, adding that the new procedure for small and medium business requirements has cut the process period by 60 percent, therefore.

He said the fund has so far financed 307 projects, including 178 small businesses till last June. The industrial sector’s share is 18 percent. In April 2013, the government had enacted law number 98 of 2013 to establish a National Fund for SME Development (the SME Fund). The law was intended to help the country make a major stride in the efforts to support the youth, combat unemployment, and enable the private sector to drive economic growth. As an independent public corporation, with a total capital of KD two billion, the SME Fund will finance up to 80 percent of capital for feasible small and medium projects submitted by Kuwaiti nationals. — KUNA