Yesterday, Engineer Saleh Al-Rasheed, Governor of the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (SMEA), visited the headquarters of Wadi Makkah Technology Company at the premises of Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in Al-Abdeyyah, accompanied by a number of officials. He was received by Dr. Hani bin Othman Ghazi, UQU Vice President for Development and Entrepreneurship; Dr. Faisal Allaf, CEO of Wadi Makkah Technology Company; Dr. Wadeei Barqawi, CEO of Tilal Al-Namaa Company; and Dr. Abdullah Murad, one of the founders of the startups at Wadi Makkah Company.  

At the beginning of the visit, the Governor of SMEA viewed the general outline of Wadi Makkah Technology Company. He also watched a presentation on the startups at Wadi Makkah Company; the results that have so far been achieved by those startups; and their products. Besides, he saw the Growth Incubator that involves diverse samples from the projects of the summer training program for the male and female students of the modeling; entrepreneurship; and design and programming pathways. The samples included applications for smartphones; models of sensors; and electronic circuits. He further met with a number of the founders of the startups.  

At the end of the visit, Engineer Saleh Al-Rasheed, Governor of SMEA, praised UQU’s experience – via Wadi Makkah Company – of supporting and launching innovation-based startups. He described the role performed by Wadi Makkah Company in converting the output of scientific research and innovation into products through startups as one of the most important pillars from which the University sets off to fulfill its mission in order to serve society and keep pace with developmental advancements. He added that this will contribute to opening various prospects for the promising youths of this homeland to establish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the fields of innovation and technology that are considered one of the most significant driving forces of national economy according to the Saudi Vision 2030.  

For his part, Dr. Hani Othman Ghazi, UQU Vice President for Development and Entrepreneurship, thanked the Governor of SMEA for his visit to Wadi Makkah Company, pointing out the necessity of making partnerships with a number of the entities working in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship and of benefitting from the expertise and experiences of different entities.