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In this interview, Dr Mohammad Nurunnabi explained that the Saudi Arabia’s government has announced a set of urgent initiatives (a total of 142 initiatives as of 2 July) to support individuals, private sector enterprises and investors, with a value exceeding SR214 billion. The government has provided significant efforts and stimulus package to keep stable employment and small and medium business. The majority of the companies were satisfied with the stimulus packages announced by the government. The other countries should continuously evaluate the SME impact due to the COVID-19 and continue the support based on the evaluation report like Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom seeks to support the SME sector by improving the economic environment and looking for possible ways to increase its contribution to GDP, diversifying sources of income and expanding the kingdom's production base in order to achieve the goals that the Kingdom seeks to achieve and the role of SMEs in economic transformation and Vision 2030. The Kingdom is working to increase the contribution of SMEs to GDP from 20% to 35%.

Businesses around the globe have been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, causing many governments to step in with stimulus packages to help them survive. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable and as many as 50% could close within the next three months. The International Labour Organization (ILO) also calls attention to the implications of the crisis on businesses, particularly SMEs, warning that without intervention half of the global workforce could lose their livelihoods.