Bank helps Jazan’s budding entrepreneurs with $67 million funding

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Funding value ranges from SR300,000 to SR400,000, depending on the project. (SPA)
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Funding value ranges from SR300,000 to SR400,000, depending on the project. (SPA)
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Funding value ranges from SR300,000 to SR400,000, depending on the project. (SPA)
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Funding value ranges from SR300,000 to SR400,000, depending on the project. (SPA)
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Photo/SPA
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Photo/SPA
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Updated 17 February 2020
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Bank helps Jazan’s budding entrepreneurs with $67 million funding

  • A water bottle production plant in Abu Arish’s industrial city is another example of youth fulfilling their ambition and taking advantage of investment opportunities in Jazan

JAZAN: Young Saudi entrepreneurs in Jazan benefited from government plans and programs to help develop promising ideas and fund future projects in line with Saudi Vision 2030.
The projects extended all over Jazan’s governorates, with Social Development Bank funding in the area as part of its leading role in funding micro, small and medium projects.
Since the launch of its funding programs, the bank has funded around 1,600 productive projects in the area, with a value exceeding SR200 million ($53 million), as well as 3,520 microprojects worth SR52 million.
The diverse investment activities funded by the bank include specialized factories, car parts and heavy equipment stores, mechanics’ shops, restaurants, gift shops, coffee shops and photo studios.
Modon, a factory specializing in colors, stands out among the factories in the industrial city in Jazan as a qualitative project in entrepreneurship funded by the Social Development Bank.
The project went into production at the beginning of 2017, delivering 10 tons of paint colorant, sponge and liquid plastic each month. The factory’s owner, engineer Mohammed Nour’s plans have paid off in production growth, marketing success and contracts with specialized companies. Currently, the factory produces 25 tons of the three colorants.
The factory has signed export contracts to the UAE, Kuwait and Yemen.
A water bottle production plant in Abu Arish’s industrial city is another example of youth fulfilling their ambition and taking advantage of investment opportunities in Jazan.
Engineer Ahmed Al-Thayhi set up one production line in 2015 with a production capacity of 2,700 bottles a day. Now the plant has a production capacity of 6,000 bottles, as well as 35,000 bottle caps daily, through three production lines.

HIGHLIGHT

Since the launch of its funding programs, the bank has funded around 1,600 productive projects in the area, with a value exceeding SR200 million ($53 million), as well as 3,520 micro-projects worth SR52 million.

The plant also started producing around 1.5 tons of plastic bags daily in 2018 and has now reached a capacity of four tons of bags, which are used locally all over Jazan’s governorates, as well as Khamis Mushayt and Makkah.
Al-Thayhi’s experience in the last five years has added to his knowledge and skill, and given him the ambition to look for an outstanding product by investing in one of Jazan’s natural resources, and manufacturing and exporting it.
The Social Development Bank empowers small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through a range of projects funding products, including Emerging Project Product, Graduates Product, Excellence Projects Product and Invention Projects Product, to create a generation of entrepreneurs.

 


Rebuilding lives: Saudi initiative gives fresh hope to amputees

Updated 08 December 2025
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Rebuilding lives: Saudi initiative gives fresh hope to amputees

  • Baitureh Health Association has provided life-changing support to more than 1,000 people
  • Prosthetic limbs can cost up to $76,000

MAKKAH: The Baitureh Health Association for the Care of Amputees has quickly become one of Saudi Arabia’s most impactful humanitarian initiatives, transforming support for people with lost limbs.

Established in 2020, the association deals with people’s physical, psychological and social needs and fills a long-standing gap in the national health system.

CEO Badr bin Alyan told Arab News that the initiative was created in response to a growing need, driven by amputations linked to accidents, blood disorders, occupational injuries and other causes.

Its operations were “based on service integration rather than fragmentation, enabling beneficiaries to return to their lives with confidence, ability and independence,” he said.

This holistic process covers everything from initial evaluations to psychological and physical rehabilitation, family support, prosthetic fitting and ongoing maintenance.

Its psychological support programs include group sessions led by certified mentors who have undergone similar experiences, as well as field visits to support patients before and after amputation.

More than 1,000 people across the Kingdom have so far benefitted from the association’s work, about 10 percent of them children, whom Alyan said were “the most sensitive and the most in need of intensive psychological and family support.”

Its specialist programs for children — My First Step and Therapeutic Entertainment — help young people adapt to prosthetics, overcome trauma and build confidence in a safe and supportive setting.

The association has completed more than 300 prosthetic fittings, including silicone cosmetic limbs, mechanical, hydraulic, electronic and 3D-printed models. 

Alyan said the type of prosthetic selected depended on a number of factors, such as age, lifestyle, type of amputation, activity level and psychological readiness.

Children also have to undergo frequent adjustments to their new limbs to account for their growth.

Each prosthetic cost between SR20,000 ($5,300) and SR285,000, Alyan said.

The association funds its work through sponsorships, community contributions and strategic partnerships.

Despite its success, Alyan said there were still challenges to be faced, including the lack of a consolidated base for the provision of psychological support and therapy services and prosthetics development and maintenance.

There was also a shortage of local experts, he said.

In response, the association set up a rehabilitation center, which Alyan said would help to localize prosthetics manufacturing, reduce costs and accelerate fitting processes and create opportunities for local experts to develop their knowledge and experience.

But providing prosthetics was only part of the association’s work, he said.

“Rebuilding a human life is the deeper goal.”