His Excellency the Minister of Communications and Information Technology during the Government Press Briefing, 30 August 2026.

(“And among the great success stories is Salla… Nawaf Hariri. Today, a single platform has driven SAR 36 billion in technical, digital, and e-commerce momentum, creating 100,000 jobs and 120,000 stores.”)

His Excellency the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Eng. Abdullah Alswaha, during the Government Press Briefing, 30 August 2026.

Among the companies and entrepreneurs who have contributed to the journey of the Saudi digital economy, His Excellency the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Eng. Abdullah Alswaha, chose to spotlight Salla during the 36th edition of the Government Press Briefing, ahead of LEAP 2026. Salla's mention was not a passing reference in a broad sector overview; His Excellency acknowledged its founder and CEO, Mr. Nawaf Hariri, presenting the platform as one of the "great success stories," before outlining the scale of its economic and commercial impact in figures.

At Salla, we welcome this recognition with immense pride. Having the platform's story told on a government stage, by the minister responsible for the communications and technology sector, is a testament to a journey that began with an ambitious Saudi vision. It was built by a team that believed technology could transform the practice of commerce, and trusted by merchants who turned what the platform offers into stores, brands, jobs, and tangible opportunities.

Bringing these figures together in one address reveals their full significance; the SAR 36 billion momentum demonstrates the volume of commercial activity generated through the Salla ecosystem; the 120,000 stores reflect the broad base of merchants who found in it a route to market; and the 100,000 jobs confirm that the impact extends far beyond buying and selling, reaching employment, income, and the growth of entire supporting sectors.

It is an achievement worth celebrating, as it documents Salla’s milestones and showcases what a Saudi platform can accomplish when it unites vision, technology, and a deep understanding of market needs, placing this capability into the hands of thousands of merchants.

Salla at the Heart of a SAR 522 Billion Digital Economy

This recognition comes at a stage where the Saudi digital economy has reached SAR 522 billion, following growth exceeding 75% since the launch of Saudi Vision 2030, while tech sector jobs have risen from 150,000 to 410,000. Within this accelerating landscape, Salla stands out as a Saudi model that transitioned digital transformation from the realm of enablers and policies into everyday commercial practice experienced by thousands of merchants.

What Salla has built goes beyond merely creating online stores; it has redesigned the entire journey of entering commerce. It equips merchants with the tools needed to manage products, payments, order fulfillment, marketing, and growth tracking within a unified ecosystem. In doing so, technology has become more accessible to merchants, making the transition from idea to market faster, clearer, and scalable.

Here lies the practical meaning of describing Salla as a national success story: a Saudi company that developed technology from within the market, understood merchant needs in their own language, context, and operational details, and transformed that understanding into a commercial infrastructure driving widespread economic activity.

SAR 36 Billion: Momentum Generated by Thousands of Businesses via Salla

When His Excellency highlighted the SAR 36 billion figure, he presented a clear benchmark for the scale of activity achieved across the Salla ecosystem. This number encapsulates thousands of transactions and business decisions: a product finding its market, a store receiving its first order, a home business reaching customers beyond its immediate circle, a local brand expanding to new cities, and a merchant managing sales, payments, and shipping all in one place.

Salla's core value lies in making this journey viable at scale; it lowered barriers to entry, shortened the distance between an idea and the first sale, and provided business owners with tools that previously required significant time, expertise, and capital to access.

As this journey is replicated across thousands of stores, the collective impact far surpasses the sum of individual transactions. The market broadens, local products connect with new customer bases, businesses scale, and fresh demand is created for services, talent, and partnerships. At that point, the SAR 36 billion figure becomes a testament to the power of Saudi technology to move the market and create economic value that expands with every store, sale, and growth opportunity.

120,000 Stores: An Expanding Merchant Base via Salla

His Excellency linked the scale of this momentum to the store count reaching 120,000—a figure reflecting Salla's broad presence and its ability to serve merchants across diverse sizes, sectors, and growth stages.

Behind every store lies a distinct starting point: a craft turned into an enterprise, a product developed to solve a problem, a traditional brick-and-mortar shop expanding beyond its physical location, a Saudi brand aiming to scale, or an idea that started small and discovered a much larger market.

The significance of this milestone lies not solely in the store count, but in the wide spectrum of possibilities it has unlocked. Each store represents an opportunity to test a product, reach a customer, build a brand, form a team, and generate scalable economic value.

Salla has made establishing a digital commercial presence clearer and more accessible, providing merchants with an infrastructure where they can launch according to their current capabilities and add new tools as their ambitions grow. Consequently, the platform has not merely hosted online stores; it has actively broadened participation in the Saudi digital commerce landscape.

100,000 Jobs: An Impact Extending Far Beyond the Storefront

His Excellency's reference to 100,000 jobs highlights that Salla's impact extends well beyond store counts or transaction volumes. While a store may start with an individual or a small team, its growth fuels an entire web of economic activity around it—spanning product management, photography, design, marketing, customer care, packaging, delivery, accounting, app development, data analytics, content creation, and other services underpinning the modern retail experience.

This figure captures the depth of impact generated across the Salla ecosystem; its value is not limited to empowering merchants to launch stores, but extends to the commercial activity's capacity to generate demand for specialized skills, services, jobs, and supporting enterprises.

Every store that successfully scales can evolve into a hub of economic activity, benefiting employees, suppliers, service providers, and partners. In this way, Salla serves as an enabling infrastructure through which commerce not only flows, but around which a comprehensive network of economic and professional opportunities takes shape.

A Saudi Product Built on Deep Market Understanding

Salla’s strength did not arise from technology developed in isolation from the market, but from technology anchored in a profound understanding of the Saudi merchant: their language, operations, requirements, and the challenges standing between them and business growth.

As the platform expanded, this local insight evolved into a continuous ability to develop solutions closely aligned with real-world commerce. Every tool engineered, every integration added, and every user journey streamlined helps transform digital transformation from an abstract concept into a practical reality felt by merchants across their stores, orders, payments, and customer relationships.

This represents one of the greatest strengths of homegrown tech companies: they do not merely operate within the market, but scale from understanding its nuances, tailoring solutions to its needs, and reinvesting their success back into a domestic ecosystem of talent, partners, and services across the Kingdom.

Salla’s journey converges the Kingdom’s digital transformation vision, advanced technical and regulatory infrastructure, and ambitious Saudi entrepreneurship that captured the opportunity to build a scalable product. The result is no longer just a future promise; it is realized in today's numbers, enterprises, and jobs.

Salla’s Success is Reflected in the Success of Its Merchants

The true measure of an enablement platform's success is what its users achieve through it. For this reason, the recognition Salla received is inherently a tribute to the merchants who placed their trust in the platform, launched their stores, learned from their first orders, refined their products, built their teams, served their customers, and contributed daily to expanding this ecosystem.

Salla built the infrastructure that enabled these stories to launch and scale, while merchants turned that foundation into viable businesses. This synergy represents the essence of Salla’s impact: the more merchants the platform empowers to build, operate, and scale, the broader its economic value and market influence become.

Thus, whenever Salla is mentioned, it brings to mind a home-based business that took off, a Saudi brand shipping its first order outside its home city, an experienced merchant transitioning decades of expertise online, a young man or woman finding a career path in commerce, and an employee finding opportunity in an enterprise that did not exist a few years ago. These stories stand as living proof of Salla’s real-world impact.

National Recognition Raises the Bar of Ambition

To have His Excellency the Minister of Communications and Information Technology spotlight Salla among the "great success stories" is a profound source of pride, confirming the integral role the platform plays in the Saudi digital economy. As this role expands, so does the level of ambition and responsibility; the quality, reliability, and usability of the technology directly influence the ability of thousands of merchants to run and grow their businesses.

Reaching 120,000 stores is not an endpoint, but a springboard for an even greater chapter of impact—one measured by the ability of more stores to sustain and scale, the number of Saudi brands expanding through the platform, and the employment and economic value generated around their success.

From a Saudi Vision to National Impact

At the Government Press Briefing, Salla was recognized as one of the "great success stories," backed by measurable impact: SAR 36 billion in technical, digital, and e-commerce momentum, 100,000 jobs, and 120,000 stores.

Behind these milestones is a Saudi vision that believed technology could open the doors of commerce, a dedicated team that built and refined the platform, and merchants who trusted it—transforming its capabilities into products, orders, brands, and employment opportunities.

We take immense pride in Salla being highlighted in His Excellency's remarks; it recognizes what the company has built, the vital role it plays, and the proven capability of a Saudi platform to create an impact that reaches the market, the community, and the wider economy.

This is Salla's story as it deserves to be told: a Saudi company that started with a clear vision, built technology close to the merchant, expanded access to commerce, and positioned its impact at the very core of the Saudi digital economy narrative.

Sources

• ⁠Saudi Ministry of Media – Government Press Briefing Clip

• ⁠Al Arabiya Business – Minister of Communications' Remarks on Salla

• ⁠Sabq – Saudi Digital Economy Reaches SAR 522 Billion

• ⁠Okaz – Digital Economy Growth and the Rise of Tech Jobs

• ⁠Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

• ⁠Salla – Official Website