State petroleum giant Saudi Aramco says it will maintain its role as the world’s top oil exporter while using downstream expansion to help drive the national transformation set out this week by Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, head of the Saudi energy sector through his role as chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs.
While Prince Muhammad aims to “transform Aramco from an oil producing company into a global industrial conglomerate,” he sees small and medium-sized enterprises as “among the most important agents of economic growth.” While they contribute 20% to current Saudi GDP, they receive “no more than 5% of overall funding.” The prince aims to allocate up to 20% of overall funding to SME’s by 2030 (MEES, 29 April). (CONTINUED - 858 WORDS)
