During the first meeting of the Higher Committee for the Support and Development of Productive Families in Jeddah, Prince Khaled said these families are an important pillar of the Kingdom’s economy.

There should be particular support for the ‘Made in Makkah’ project run by productive families in the region, said Prince Khaled.

Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed said there was a need to classify the activities of these families, and provide specialized training on design and marketing.

Hisham Al-Falih, supervisor of Makkah’s development agency, said the committee was set up on the premise that small and medium businesses were important economic drivers.

He said preliminary studies have shown that one third of all production globally involve women working from home, which includes sewing, cooking and other services.

He said that it was vital to first determine the needs of the market and then inform these families about enterprises to focus on. They should also be given outlets to sell their products and services, and have regular evaluations done of their businesses.

Al-Falih said other support would include passing laws enabling these families to operate more effectively out in the marketplace, and training them to use social networks to market their products.

He said that their success would be measured by how many skilled jobs are created and their technical innovation in production and design.

Abdel Muneem Al-Shehri, director general of the Ministry of Labor in Makkah, presented his ministry’s plan for the development of productive families. He said the plan was based on several studies.

At the end of the meeting, the committee drafted several resolutions aimed at putting an institutional framework in place to improve the quality of products produced by these families.