Salam Launches "Freelancer Package" to Support the Freelance Ecosystem in Saudi Arabia

At LEAP 2025, Amr El Dessouky, Chief Commercial Officer at Salam, announced the launch of the "Freelancer Package", a new step toward addressing the real needs of Saudi Arabia's independent professionals. The package delivers a unified digital experience, bringing connectivity, financial services, and e-commerce together through a single point of entry.

In a press interview during the conference, where Salam participated as a strategic sponsor, El Dessouky outlined the vision behind the initiative. Through collaboration with FutureWorks and partnerships with HALA and Zid, Salam is building an integrated ecosystem designed to evolve alongside freelancers' needs, supporting entrepreneurship while advancing the Kingdom's digital transformation and economic diversification goals under Vision 2030.

Q1: What is the Freelancer Package?

A: Salam has launched the Freelancer Package, a comprehensive ecosystem that brings together specialist partners across banking, commerce, financing, and mentorship into one integrated ecosystem. It provides freelancers with a single starting point to access the operational tools they need to run a business, rather than navigating five separate sign-ups with five different providers.

The Freelancer Package is designed to offer better value than purchasing each service separately. When you're a freelancer watching every riyal, the difference between accessible infrastructure and out-of-reach tools can determine whether your business survives its first year. This package is priced to reduce that barrier, not add to it.

Q2: Why launch this now?

A: The timing aligns with where the freelance economy stands in Saudi Arabia. Freelancers and independent professionals are a growing part of this sector, with more than two million individuals registered on official freelance platforms in Saudi Arabia. Vision 2030 reforms have established freelance work as a legitimate employment path. Government has built the regulatory and platform layer, licensing is streamlined, legal frameworks exist, digital infrastructure is operational. What's been missing is the operational layer: the practical tools freelancers need the day after they get licensed. The Freelancer Package fills that gap.

Q3: What does "Powering what's next" mean in the context of freelancing?

A: The theme reflects Salam's commitment to enabling the future of work and business in Saudi Arabia. For Freelancers specifically, it means powering the operational infrastructure that freelancers need as this segment continues to grow under Vision 2030. Salam recognized that freelancers weren't just underserved on price, they were underserved on experience. Every tool existed somewhere, but nowhere did they come together. Our Freelancer Package changes that by delivering an end-to-end unified digital experience, a single customer journey built around the specific needs of a segment the market had overlooked. It's about looking ahead to what the economy needs and building for that reality.

Q4: Who are the partners involved?

A: For the initiative, Salam is collaborating with Future Work, a national company that strengthens Saudi Arabia’s freelance ecosystem by enabling freelancer license validation, supporting flexible work models, and driving labor market innovation.

Salam has partnered with two specialists, each bringing domain expertise to the ecosystem. HALA provides the banking and payment enablement layer. Zid delivers the digital commerce platform for selling online. HALA and Zid are the first partners in this work, bringing banking and commerce into the ecosystem. And this is just the beginning. Salam will continue adding partners as the platform grows, building around the real needs of freelancers rather than asking them to adapt to what already exists.

Working with Future Work to enable Freelance Work Certificate verification, and bringing together specialized partners including HALA for financial services and Zid for e-commerce capabilities, Salam is building an integrated ecosystem around the evolving needs of freelancers and independent professionals.

Q5: What does Salam provide within the freelancer ecosystem?

A: Salam identified an underserved segment and built an end-to-end unified digital experience around its specific needs. Salam provides the connectivity foundation and serves as the orchestration layer that brings all partners together. The company offers the freelancer package itself, creating the single entry point that connects banking and commerce into one cohesive experience. Our Freelancer Package puts professional-grade tools within reach at better value than freelancers would pay sourcing infrastructure individually. 

Q6: What problem does the Freelancer Package solve?

A: Today, freelancers in Saudi Arabia run businesses on consumer setupspersonal bank accounts, personal phone plans, savings instead of financing. When they want to formalize their work, they face fragmented services that weren't designed for them. The Freelancer Package closes this gap by providing purpose-built tools through one entry point.

Q7: How is the Freelancer Package different from simply bundling existing products?

A: The Freelancer Package is infrastructure. Salam identified what freelancers actually need and brought together specialists who serve this segment specifically. Each partner was chosen because they already understand and build for independent professionals. The initiative reflects Salam's strategic identification of an underserved niche segment, independent professionals navigating fragmented services not designed for their realities. Rather than offering another standalone solution, The Freelancer Package delivers an end-to-end unified digital experience with a single customer journey.

Q8: Why did Salam decide to create this ecosystem rather than build these capabilities internally?

A: Salam recognized that specialists already exist in each domain. Rather than trying to become a bank or a commerce platform, Salam leveraged its position as the connectivity foundation to orchestrate an ecosystem of best-in-class partners. This approach delivers better solutions faster while allowing each partner to focus on what they do best.

Q9: How does this fit with Salam's broader strategy?

A: The Freelancer Package represents Salam's evolution to a preferred digital lifestyle operator. The company is moving beyond transactional connectivity services to deliver purpose-oriented digital solutions through trusted partnerships. This initiative demonstrates Salam's commitment to supporting communities through technology and innovation.

Q10: What does HALA bring to the freelancer ecosystem?

A: HALA serves as the payment enablement layer, providing freelancers with dedicated IBAN accounts, debit cards, and the ability to accept payments through both point-of-sale systems and online channels. The integration includes Soft POS capability, improved cash flow management, and comprehensive transaction visibility, financial infrastructure designed for how freelancers actually operate.

Q11: What role does Zid play in the freelancer ecosystem?

A: Zid acts as the digital commerce layer, enabling freelancers to rapidly establish an online presence and manage commercial transactions through a seamless, integrated experience. This removes the technical barriers that often prevent independent professionals from reaching customers effectively in a digital marketplace.

Q12: How does a freelancer access the package?

A: The Freelancer Package provides one starting point instead of requiring freelancers to navigate multiple separate sign-ups. Through the offering, users gain access to all partner services as part of an integrated journey.

Q13: How does the Freelancer Package support Vision 2030 objectives?

A: Vision 2030 has positioned freelance work as a legitimate employment path and built the regulatory infrastructure to support it. The Freelancer Package complements these efforts by providing the operational tools that let freelancers succeed. Rather than offering another standalone solution, it delivers an end-to-end unified digital experience, bringing together banking and commerce into a single customer journey architected around the specific needs of freelancers. This alignment supports economic diversification, entrepreneurship, and digital transformation goals.