Mapping entrepreneurship ecosystem of Saudi Arabia

Abstract Purpose – The aim of this paper is to critically review the existing initiatives of Saudi Arabia for entrepreneurship growth. It also identifies potential for viable interventions to trigger entrepreneurship growth that reflects in Saudi Arabia's economic development process. Design/methodology/approach – Cross sectional basic study using primary and secondary resources is adopted to explore the initiatives and understand entrepreneurship growth ecosystem. Findings – Ecosystem is not complete and whatever available is in infancy stage. Challenges also remain for the effective intervention at strategic, institutional and enterprise levels in order to streamline and trigger the entrepreneurship development. However, there exist huge opportunities and the Government reforms are happening. Research limitations/implications – Limited access to resources in Saudi Arabia including to the leadership in different governmental and private sector organizations made the task challenging. In some cases the websites are in Arabic and for some these do not exist. Practical implications – Findings identify numerous challenges that lie ahead if the government were to vie for entrepreneurship as a tool of SME and economic growth. It identifies the areas of governmental interventions required with specific recommendations. Originality/value – The paper is built upon the contemporary scenario of entrepreneurship growth in the Kingdom. It comprises derived research based on country analysis. It is original in the sense that the research is based on the facts of the ground and explores and implies the results.