Dr Hisham Muhammad Alhawal is an economic director of the research and studies centre at the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises “Monshaat” in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. His research focuses on growth and development, SMEs, entrepreneurship, scientific education and R&D, and innovation. Hisham is a Sylff fellow since 2018. Hisham is a co-founder of Global SME Policy network (GSPN). He holds a B.A. in Accounting science from Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in KSA, an M.B.A. in Business Administration from Troy University in Troy, AL USA, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Howard University in Washington, DC USA.