Saudi tech startups will drive the digital economy over the next 15 years, and support job creation for technology talents, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Suwaiyel said at SAP’s first startup focus event in Riyadh on Thursday. 
“Government support for tech startups is essential for driving the Saudi Vision 2030 goals of national digital transformation and sustainable career paths for Saudi talents. Public-private partnerships, such as with SAP, combine government vision and private sector expertise to amplify Saudi entrepreneurs’ ideas and enhance the Kingdom’s digital economic competitiveness,” Al-Suwaiyel added.
As part of its mission to support promising technology startups, SAP says it has seen strong success on the startup focus program globally.
Startup focus has helped eligible startups, whose product ideas are based on Big Data, predictive or real-time analytics solution, accelerate the development of their solutions, and assist in bringing their solutions to market.
Boosting regional innovation and supporting local entrepreneurs, the SAP Training and Development Institute has now launched the initiative in the Kingdom. 
During the two-day event, attendees gained insights from successful startup founders and thought leaders, and interacted with the startup ecosystem in the Kingdom. Promising entrepreneurs also learned how to grow their innovative business plans with SAP’s cutting-edge technology.
“Saudi tech talents and millennials are already among the best-connected in the world, and have the ambition and business acumen to become global startup leaders,” said Ahmed Al-Faifi, MD, SAP Saudi Arabia.
“SAP is now reviewing submitted business cases to identify the strongest startups, eligible for the program, taking Saudi innovations to a global scale and boosting local innovations,” said Marita Mitschein, SVP & MD, SAP Training and Development Institute.
Demonstrating the economic impact of digital transformation, the Saudi GDP could increase by $31 billion by 2020, if the Kingdom optimizes digital tools, says Accenture’s recent report.

Source: Arab News