By Lubna Hamdan / Arabian Business
SOURCE: Arabian Business - Middle East SMEs need more support from banks, private sector, says PayTabs CEO
SMEs in the MENA region require additional support from private and banking sectors, as opposed to governments, according to the CEO of Saudi-based digital payment solutions company PayTabs.
Speaking to Arabian Business, AbdulAziz Aljouf said there is not enough backing and funding for regional SMEs.
“We are not expecting governments to change. We are expecting the layers after the government - the private sectors, the banking industry - to change. And that is hard to do because they always think that SMEs are competing with them,” he said.
Aljouf went on to compare SMEs to small fish and private companies to bigger fish that have two options: to eat the smaller players or help grow them.
“We need to support SMEs financially and mentally through coaching and mentoring, because that is what will create the ecosystem,” he said.
PayTabs, which launched in 2014 and remains an SME company, will ‘demand more’ from both sectors, Aljouf said.
Source: arabianbusiness.com