Kingdom of Saudi Arabia / Riyadh September 22
Saudi Export Development Authority, "SAUDI EXPORTS", harnesses all its capabilities and efforts to contribute to increasing the proportion of non-oil exports out of the total value of GDP, in line with the Kingdom's vision. In this regard, Saudi Export takes many measures and initiatives that should strengthen the competition of Saudi product in the global and regional markets. SAUDI EXPORTS, in line with the measures of the leadership and in completion of efforts by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources system to stimulate the private sector and mitigate the economic repercussions of the Corona pandemic, has sought to support exporters and mitigate the economic effects of this pandemic with several services and initiatives.
One of the most important services provided by Saudi Export Development Authority in support of manufacturers and exporters during this pandemic is the studies of specialized commodities which the authority had freely made available through the authority's website, with the aim of helping exporters and providing them with the necessary information to make the decision to export to target markets and succeed. This year, more than 400 applications to benefit from such studies were approved. Specialized commodity studies are of high importance for understanding specific markets and helping to make strategic decisions to enter such markets. The studies are divided into reports of consumer products and industrial products, each focusing on a specific product in a specific country, as well as touching on various sectors such as building materials, food products, packaging, and petrochemical products. These studies highlight the size of the target market, potential business partners, competitive overview, appropriate route to market channels, customer preferences, business environment, and other information that will help manage and reduce market entry risks, and provide detailed inputs to formulating an entry strategy, in addition to reducing costs of market research activities.
A package of incentives to support exporters
On the other hand, "SAUDI EXPORTS" continued to provide various financial incentives to exporters through the export incentives program, as part of the measures provided by the state to stimulate economic growth. This year, 24 applications were approved for the export incentives program, which aims to encourage Saudi companies to enter export markets and expand therein. The program offers nine incentives that are in line with the Kingdom's commitments in the World Trade Organization. These incentives encourage and stimulate exports, facilitate entry into new markets, and boost exports by compensating part of the costs of export activities carried out by exporters. Export incentives vary to cover export activities such as: listing in e-commerce platforms, individual participation in international exhibitions, facilitation of visiting potential buyers, export advice, legal support, specialized training, marketing and advertising, product registration, and product certification.
It should be noted that since the start of the program in November 2019 until now, the number of exporters' requests for incentives has reached 186 applications, most of whom have benefited from those who fulfilled the program conditions from disbursing the financial incentives set for them. Where 81 applications were accepted and incentives were used and disbursed for 46 applications, with a value of SAR 2,357,518 for the total incentives. The expected reserved budget for the disbursement of applications under the procedure amounted to SAR 4,163,959. The direct financial and economic impact of the incentives disbursed to the beneficiaries is expected to be SAR 13,116,297.
Facilitation, help and support
SAUDI EXPORTS also continued to provide services to improve the efficiency of the export environment and solve challenges facing exporters, as one of the main roles played by the authority. SAUDI EXPORTS this year worked on solving eighty export-related challenges through the service of “supporting solution to challenges of export environment" which works to support exporters and monitor challenges encountered by them, whether local or international, study and analyze them and find effective solutions to address them in cooperation with the relevant authorities, which leads to the empowerment of exporters and their support in order to develop the export environment.
Export challenges that face exporters in general can be divided into two main categories, external or international challenges imposed by countries at their borders or within their territories, and internal challenges that limit the flow of Saudi exports to abroad due to procedural reasons or logistical obstacles that raise costs. During this pandemic, the authority monitored several challenges facing exporters, including the suspension of supply chains, weak global demand, as well as challenges represented by the precautionary closures of some activities and the suspension of exports of some products, as well as the restriction of movement at land ports of trucks passage, which led to Saudi exports facing challenges that limit their access to global markets.
It should be noted that the most prominent challenges that SAUDI EXPORTS have solved and helped Saudi exporters overcome during this pandemic is the reopening of Al Wadiah Border port after complete closure as a result of precautionary measures, by working with the relevant authorities. It also helped a large number of national factories issue permits from the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources to allow them to operate during the ban period. In addition to cooperating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in assisting exporters to authenticate their documents necessary to export their products abroad during the precautionary closure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The challenge resulting from restricting the export of medicinal products was also resolved by re-permitting the export of basic products used in the manufacture of these products that are required by other countries, in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, industrial complexes and the Food and Drug General Authority. In addition to working with Saudi customs to ease precautionary measures at entry and exit ports. SAUDI EXPORTS continues its efforts to receive and solve all the challenges that exporters face during these exceptional circumstances.
Raise knowledge of export practices .. remotely
Raising knowledge of export practices and developing human competencies in the field of export is one of the objectives of "SAUDI EXPORTS", as it works to develop and provide advanced educational programs and content on best export practices and export policies and procedures in the Kingdom and target markets. This year, the authority organized 8 workshops for the benefit of more than 200 trainees. In light of these conditions and the precautionary measures that limit gatherings, a "SAUDI EXPORTS" platform for electronic training was established, in which it launched 16 electronic training materials to be presented to trainees remotely. This is in the interest of "SAUDI EXPORTS" to keep pace with modern training methods and to provide digital content, with the aim of reaching the largest possible segment of interested individuals and workers in the field of export, and to facilitate their access to necessary information about export, its practices and procedures, especially in light of these exceptional circumstances.
As an advanced and complementary step to the solutions provided by the authority in the framework of developing cadres working in the field of export, SAUDI EXPORTS introduced the program of specialized professional certificates in the field of export (ICC - Export / Import Certificate) as 171 trainees benefited from this program this year and more than 2000 of training hours were completed, with the aim of raising the knowledge capabilities of individuals in the labor market and job seekers in fields of export.
Active endeavor to facilitate linking exporters with potential buyers and partners
It should be noted that, in response to the current circumstances and the repercussions of the Corona pandemic, which led to the cancellation of a large number of global and international exhibitions, and in the interest of "SAUDI EXPORTS" to support exporters in promoting their products and access to global markets in all circumstances, it contributed to encouraging 18 Saudi companies specialized in Construction materials sector to participate in the "African G 5 (virtual) exhibition", which was held for a period of three days from 21 to 23 July 2020. The number of visitors to the exhibition reached 33,450. The number of visits to corporate pages reached more than 256,000 visits. The countries targeted at the exhibition were: Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya.
The products of the Saudi companies participating in the exhibition varied to include: ceramics, heaters, sanitary ware, electrical products, plastic tubes, lighting and others. Where the companies uploaded information and pictures of their products on the platform of the exhibition, which was viewed and interested visitors and potential importers. Meetings were then organized through the platform. It is worth noting that "SAUDI EXPORTS" sponsored the exhibition with platinum sponsorship, as part of its efforts to shed light on global market opportunities in the construction sector and methods in increasing the Kingdom's share.
In addition, "SAUDI EXPORTS" participated this year in the Mauritanian trade mission in Council of Chambers in Riyadh, and 25 Saudi companies were nominated to attend the event and conduct business matching meetings with more than 120 Mauritanian companies. SAUDI EXPORTS is always working on searching for the best export opportunities for national companies within the international markets, matching national companies with the appropriate opportunities and linking them with potential buyers.
SAUDI EXPORTS continues to serve Saudi exporters
It is noteworthy that “SAUDI EXPORTS" continued this year to provide evaluation services to exporters such as the export readiness self-assessment service, which is a system that provides companies with a preliminary electronic assessment of the company's maturity, products and export readiness level, and proposing appropriate services to increase the efficiency of export readiness. In addition to the service of a detailed assessment of export readiness through field visits to Saudi companies to assess their export capabilities, weaknesses and strengths, and provide them with a specially designed development plan to help the company achieve its export goals. "SAUDI EXPORTS" also provides an export advisory service for Saudi companies, which is a professional consultancy specialized in various aspects related to export. The service targets companies whose need has been determined through the results of the detailed evaluation service. Work has been made on their areas of improvement in cooperation with leading companies in the field of consulting related to various export fields under the supervision of the authority.
In order to support Saudi exporters, companies, specialists and researchers in the field of export by providing them with data and information remotely, "SAUDI EXPORTS" provides a number of information sources through its website, most notably the "Export Atlas" service, which is a smart, interactive electronic tool that specializes in providing and analyzing global trade data and economic indicators, and highlight the export opportunities.
In addition to the "Export Atlas", "SAUDI EXPORTS" provides tools, search engines and forms on its website under the section on export aids; The department contains several titles that are constantly updated, including documents, guides and market research tools, and forms that facilitate obtaining the required information during all stages of export, including a model for an export plan. The content of the section is periodically updated and new tools added. Among the modern tools that have been added is the (international banking transactions), which consists of data on banking relations between Saudi banks and foreign banks in 33 different countries. The total number of visits during the year 2020 to the export aids section reached nearly four thousand visits.
All these efforts and integrated services confirm the relentless pursuit of "SAUDI EXPORTS", in all circumstances, to support exporters, strengthen local industries, promote Saudi products and services, and open new export channels for Saudi companies in regional and international markets, in line with the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 related to diversification of sources of income and increasing the value of non-oil exports. SAUDI EXPORTS welcomes to service all exporters and receives all inquiries about its services through its website www.saudiexports.sa , unified number 920007355 and social media channels.