‘Atleq Mashro'ok’ encourages innovation among Saudi SMEs

Atleq Mashro'ok’ – the youth platform dedicated to training and motivating entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region – will take off on Wednesday 7 December 2016 in Riyadh organized by Badir Program for Technology Incubators and accelerators of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in collaboration with PBS Business Solutions.

HH prince Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed, President of KACST, hosts the event in its third edition, along with Dr. Ghassan Al-Sulaiman, Governor of the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises.

The event will highlight the importance of innovative technological companies and their effect on diversifying economics of countries, and the government initiatives aimed at supporting entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises through various strategic initiatives.

‘Atleq Mashro'ok’ is considered as one of the most important annual events in the kingdom which aim to open new innovative opportunities for business by transforming innovations into commercial projects, create interactive platform that allows sharing practical experiences in business and innovation field, alongside developing the emerging projects’ competitiveness and launching technological and industrial projects in the Saudi market.

Mr. Nawaf Al-Sahhaf, the Chief Executive Officer at Badir Program for Technology Incubators and accelerators at KACST, remarked that “Atleq Mashro'ok” is considered the first initiative of its kind directed towards the youth, entrepreneurs, and SMEs sector, to train and motivate the youth to launch successful commercial projects of economic value, while focusing on raising the efficiency of SME owners through various workshops, panel discussions and awareness activities associated with the event.

He explained that the initiative targets diverse sectors to create an interactive platform for launching innovative projects in the Saudi market, while at the same time, gather the best experts and creative leaders in the region to share the latest global trends in entrepreneurship and innovation field.  He noted that the initiative’s objectives are aligned with Saudi Vision 2030 that seeks to support and empower the youth in driving economic development through their projects.

Al-Sahhaf further stated this year’s initiative includes a set of panel discussions, training programs and workshops. It also hosts several prominent entrepreneurs in the kingdom and Gulf region and will witness the demonstration of 15 innovative projects. He added that the initiative is a unique opportunity to open new investment channels for participants via meeting investors, businessmen, financiers and supportive entities, create an interactive platform where leading expertise and experience in the field of innovation in projects are exchanged, and enable small, medium and emerging projects to benefit from the use of technology in transforming normal projects into innovative ones.