NCFB aims to sustain, develop family enterprises in Saudi Arabia: CEO

Ayth Al Mubarak, CEO of the National Center for Family Business (NCFB)

The National Center for Family Business (NCFB) aims to sustain and develop family enterprises in the Kingdom and seeks to have a supportive system in this regard, CEO Ayth Al Mubarak told Argaam.

On the sidelines of the PIF Private Sector Forum, Al Mubarak added that the center provides a range of services and effective communication with four groups of stakeholders, family enterprises, government agencies, advisors and experts, as well as community members and workers.

NCFB works with some government agencies, including the Ministry of Commerce, as both cooperated in drafting the New Companies Law, to ensure that the law covers the necessary capabilities for the sustainability of family enterprises, the top executive said.

Furthermore, the center works with the Ministry of Justice under the concept of preventive justice to develop ideas aimed at protecting facilities from falling into conflicts. In addition, it cooperates with the ministry’s judicial digital platform Taradhi in the disputes resolution program to ensure the sustainability of facilities and reduce the consequences of litigation.

In addition, NCFB worked on a large number of disputes, as it recently resolved approximately 10 disputes, Al Mubarak said. He indicated that the nature of the center’s intervention included advisory sessions, proposition of visions and proposals, attempts to develop solutions, and work to build consensus on these solutions.

The center also cooperates with the Ministry of Commerce to develop a guide for preparing family charters. This is to help the facilities write and prepare family charters in accordance with the regulations and legislation in the Kingdom.

NCFB offers a set of tools to motivate family enterprises to adopt best practices, the CEO said. He added that the center presented more than 50 programs in over 10 cities across the Kingdom to reach family enterprises and provide them with the top practices.

The center also plays a major role in serving issues related to family enterprises and governance, in terms of preparing the content related to issues of governance and sustainability of family enterprises. This is besides ways to plan for the succession of generations, which is not available in Arabic language. The center aimed to bridge this gap until it began to serve enterprises inside and outside the Kingdom.

Al Mubarak added that the center caters to family enterprises with regard to public policies, as it serves as a bridge of communication between them and the government sector. It also seeks to collect, organize, and convey opinions to officials in order to be taken into account when developing policies.

Family enterprises dominate 95% of the total number of enterprises operating in the Kingdom. They include individual enterprises, private companies in which family ownership exceeds 51%, as well as listed companies in which family ownership is over 25%.