Google pledges to help businesses in Saudi Arabia

          "Go Big With Google" offers a range of digital tools, grants and loans            
           
The business sector went through a difficult phase during the "Covid-19" period, and many small companies and individuals were affected as a result.  Yesterday, Google unveiled a program to accelerate the pace of economic recovery in the Middle East and North Africa and stimulate it through digital transformation.  The "Go Strong with Google" program offers a set of tools and training courses to support businesses and job seekers, with its focus in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on supporting commercial activities operating in the areas of retail and tourism, and entrepreneurs.  According to the Arab Monetary Fund, there are about 6 million jobs at risk in the Arab world, with the most sought-after jobs in the kingdom demanding applied digital skills. 

As part of its regional program, Google pledges to help more than one million people and businesses in the MENA region learn digital skills and grow their businesses by the end of 2021. The company will provide grants from Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm, and loans worth $ $ 4 million, as well as grants and advertising credits of more than $ 9 million for governments and businesses.

Asharq Al-Awsat attended a special digital meeting with “Lino Kataruzzi”, General Manager of Google in the Middle East and North Africa, in which he explained the reasons why Google launched this project, the target groups in it, and how digital opportunities can contribute to the return of people Business activities and societies in Saudi Arabia and the region are stronger. He stressed that digital tools have become a means of saving many people during the crisis, and that Google helps people acquire new skills, find jobs, and enhance the presence of commercial activities on the Internet, especially those working in the areas of retail and tourism, because they are most affected by the crisis. He also stressed that Google is optimistic about the future of the region, and has great confidence that cooperation with local partners will accelerate the pace of economic recovery by taking advantage of digital transformation.

The “Go Strong with Google” program in Saudi Arabia includes 3 main areas, which are digital and cloud skills training, business guidance and direction, and digitization of local business activities in Saudi Arabia. As for the first area, Google will enter into partnerships with local authorities, such as the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (the Digital Giving Initiative), the Ministry of Tourism and Wadi Makkah, through which it will provide training on digital marketing to more than 50,000 students and commercial activities in the Kingdom, and will host digital training for technology companies. Saudi Arabia on cloud computing, with the training of 140,000 software developers in the Kingdom (and 260,000 developers in the Arab region) in advanced and applied digital skills, such as machine learning (and focusing on upgrading women’s skills).

As for the second area (mentoring and directing business activities), Google will launch the Google for Startups Accelerator program to support local entrepreneurs, so that the first group will include up to 15 startups from the region to participate in a 3-month program that provides guidance, direction and assistance from expert advisors. . The company will also provide $ 1.1 million in grants from Google.org to Mercy Corps, the Arab Tourism Organization, and Youth Business International to direct business activities and entrepreneurs across the region.

The third area (digitizing local commercial activities in Saudi Arabia) includes the launch of the Market Finder service to help local businesses identify new markets and acquire global customers, in addition to granting all retailers in Saudi Arabia, whether they are Google advertisers or not, the right to access the brand. Google Shopping tab to list their products at no cost, which helps them communicate with more customers, in addition to listing 100,000 local businesses in Saudi Arabia on “My Business on Google” and providing the owners of these businesses with digital skills, in partnership with Saudi Post, in addition to List another 50,000 companies in the UAE, in partnership with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

It is noteworthy that Google has trained 300,000 students, handicraft artists and commercial activities on digital marketing in the region in partnership with local authorities and institutions, such as the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Egyptian Federation of Tourist Chambers in Egypt, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (the Digital Giving Initiative), and the Ministry of Tourism in Saudi Arabia, the Nama Foundation for the Advancement of Women and the Mohammed bin Rashid Foundation for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises in the UAE, in addition to supporting thousands of small businesses with limited resources by providing financial loans worth $ 3 million in cooperation with the Kiva Foundation, which is a digital platform to connect lenders and borrowers around the world . In 2018, the company announced the launch of “Skills from Google”, a training program on digital skills for Arabic speakers, from which about one million Arab youth have so far benefited.

You can visit the “Go big with Google” program at grow.google-intl-mena.