JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s SME guarantee program Kafalah has supported 61 tourism projects worth SR176 million ($46.9 million), the Saudi Ministry of Tourism said.
The projects have offered 2,687 job opportunities, the ministry said on its official Twitter account.
In July, Kafalah Director-General Humam Hashem said that the number of beneficiaries from the program had increased by 197 percent during the coronavirus pandemic.
The value of financial support provided through Kafalah exceeded SR3.4 billion in 2020, he added.
In August, the program launched a package of initiatives worth SR450 million in collaboration with the National Development Fund to guarantee loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and provide the necessary financial support for SMEs during the pandemic.
Kafalah is a joint effort between the Ministry of Finance, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) and Saudi banks.
The banks offer finance to customers up to SR2 million, while the Kafalah program issues guarantees to the bank, covering up to 80 percent of the required financing.
