Over the past three years, the government has sanctioned more than KD177 million in funding for small and medium projects, said the Minister of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) and the Minister of State for Services Affairs, Khaled Al-Roudhan.
Clarifying the funding, the minister said that the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprise Development, which was established in 2013, has since 2016 funded 1,035 projects at a total cost of KD 177.1 million.
Elaborating and providing a breakdown of the funding, Al-Roudhan explained that the largest chunk of the funding at KD64.8 million went to 411 projects by commercial enterprises. This was followed by disbursement of KD61.2 million to finance 406 service projects; KD38.2 million to fund 147 industrial projects; KD7.5 million for 28 agricultural projects; and, KD5.2 million for some 43 craft projects.
The minister added that the National Fund had rejected 1,807 projects in the same period for various reasons, including lack of financial and technical studies, inaccurate or exaggerated assessment of expenses, unclear sale, marketing, and pricing policies, lack of experience and other factors.