Entrepreneurs and MSMEs are essential to economic growth at AlUla

When the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) was founded by Royal Decree in 2017 we started with a small but entrepreneurial team that piloted many blue-ocean projects, such as the first destination activation with Winter at Tantora.

Having been an entrepreneur myself for 10 years, while running a company that provided youth training and education opportunities across new sectors, I saw the value that can be created by unlocking the economic potential of individuals and new ideas. New ideas increase the size of the economic pie and facilitate continuous growth. They open the way for innovation at every level of the supply chain.

Entrepreneurship is a bedrock layer of economic growth as AlUla becomes a Living Museum – and a leading global tourist destination for cultural and natural heritage.

AlUla has many MSMEs that make a vital contribution to the local economy. According to initial results of the recent AlUla census, 49% of local businesses are micro- and small-sized businesses. (Micro is defined as one to five employees, small as six to 49, and medium as 50 to 249.)

But as the region transforms into a global destination, we will need new types of small businesses that serve a more diverse economy

RCU’s framework for advancing MSMEs incorporates four main cultural values derived from Vision 2030 and the RCU long-term strategy:?

·??????To empower potential entrepreneurs and MSMEs through development of their capacities.

·??????To increase economic diversity and inclusion.

·??????To build a prosperous local community through attractive employment opportunities.

·??????To instill the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Our MSME framework has four specific goals toward creating a flourishing entrepreneurial business community serving and contributing to the local economy:

·??????Activate and enable the MSME ecosystem in AlUla.

·??????Upskill the local community’s business acumen and soft skills.

·??????Create sustainable businesses in targeted sectors.

·??????Deliver business support services.

We will measure the success of this effort through KPIs such as the number of MSMEs in AlUla, their contribution to local GDP, the survival rate of new MSMEs, the number of consultations that we provide to MSMEs and the number of jobs generated by local MSMEs.

It is important that this growth is sustainable. One lesson that RCU has learned about sustainability, which informs our economic model, originated with our work in nature and wildlife. AlUla in the past had a wide range of flora and fauna – until overgrazing depleted the landscape of sufficient vegetation.

And if you don’t have the plants, you lose the animals.

Now we are reintroducing animal species such as the ibex, Arabian gazelle and oryx into their ancestral homes at AlUla – but first we had to restore the vegetation.

The supporting conditions had to be there at ground level.

What are the supporting conditions for entrepreneurs?

These are programmes that plant the seeds of a healthy economic ecosystem.

An example of this is Vibes AlUla. The first offering of its kind in the region, Vibes AlUla is an incubator and coworking space for our entrepreneurs. As of March 2022, the SME Enablement Programme at Vibes had enabled the creation of 14 MSMEs.

Vibes is just one part of how we are directly nurturing entrepreneurship. Our Comprehensive Services Centre allows for ease of access to government services. Our languages institute and scholarship programme work together to build baseline skills that can serve the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. And craftsmanship initiatives, such as our Piaget design competition, have led to the creation of an AlUla-inspired jewellery businesses.

If we get rid of the obstacles that make it hard for MSMEs to grow, we will give our youth the chance they deserve to succeed as entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is not something that needs to be created from the outside. It is the spirit of taking challenges and turning them into opportunities -- the spirit that says let’s get this done.

And this is not just for the sake of the MSMEs. It is also for the sake of the big businesses that account for many of RCU’s strategic partners – companies such as PwC, Accor, Aecom, Habitas, Assystem, Egis and Setec. These companies are already sourcing many of their beaty products, catering needs, and staffing needs from within AlUla. ?

A healthy ecosystem supports living entities of all sizes. By 2035 we expect to have more than tripled the number of homegrown MSMEs in AlUla. This thriving community will provide local knowledge to assist the big players, as well as local flavour to make life in AlUla more interesting for expatriates as well as the AlUla community. In turn the big companies can help SMEs to grow and open the doors to wider opportunities.

The entrepreneurial spirit has always existed at AlUla. It’s part of our heritage. Our ancestors were entrepreneurial. To survive in a challenging environment they made clever use of the materials at hand. They wove and embroidered with silk and metal thread, farmed dates and gathered fodder, worked as metal smiths, and ran caravanserai and coffee houses.

Think of how much we can achieve today if we apply this heritage of resourcefulness in a modern AlUla, fully connected to the wider world and all its possibilities. Today in AlUla, against the backdrop of 200,000 years of human history, new stories are being crafted, new ideas are emerging, and a new legacy of entrepreneurship is being born.?