Everyone hopes that in the future, new Omani entrepreneurs will be able to manage their businesses efficiently and effectively. These entrepreneurs need more moral support and incentives as well as government facilities so they can venture into the business world under intense competition from Asian expatriates who control most businesses in various economic sectors.
There is also hope that the new taxes and fees will not extend to the projects of either fresh or experienced entrepreneurs. They also hope for exemptions and opportunities for contact, meetings and contracts with Arab and foreign trade delegations visiting the Sultanate from time to time at all levels instead of making these exclusive for same veteran businessmen.
The proposal is to invite a group of 20 young entrepreneurs to meet the business delegations, get introduced to their foreign counterparts and build business relations with them.
Recently, a group of important Omani businessmen met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who paid official visit to the Sultanate.
These are the same businessmen running businesses for many decades through dozens of companies they own, not to mention that some of them are indifferent to the practice of hidden trade but at a higher level.
In the past few years, some of these businessmen have been charged with fraudulent practices in commercial activities and monopolising businesses. This led to intervention from the Public Authority for Consumer Protection and the Public Prosecution in these cases.
It is no secret that these big businessmen are the owners of various commercial agencies selling different products and services, from cars and electronics to grocery stores, fish markets, among others.
Meanwhile, young Omani businessmen are still kept away from such official meetings with business delegations. This must be taken into consideration in the upcoming visits and at all levels that there is a presence of Omani entrepreneurs to benefit from these opportunities in the future, and that these meetings are held at larger venues to accommodate this category of businessmen.
With the new management of Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry and its various committees to support the orientations of Omani entrepreneurs, especially through the SMEs Committee, in addition to the Board of Directors of the Public Authority for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (Riyada), the future will be set for those engaged in free trade through institutions established in the business and across the Sultanate.
As a result of the Sultanate’s sponsorship of Omani entrepreneurs, their number has exceeded 31,000 since 2013. This confirms that continued support, whether by the SMEs Authority or OCCI, will attract more of them in various businesses.
The Public Authority for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (Riyada) adopts every new aspect in its effort to activate the work of Omani entrepreneurs and conducts studies for the benefit of these young businessmen, the latest being the study it received from Al Zubair Centre for Small Enterprises related to the Small and Medium Enterprises Database.
This study aims at benefiting Riyada in obtaining a comprehensive assessment and development of business sectors in order to create knowledge or learning centres for these sectors, in addition to achieving long-term sustainable and integrated support for the SMEs sector.
The study will also help create partnerships with the private sector to provide expertise, add real value to the business sector and its activities. It will also help in acquiring knowledge of the procedures required to register institutions as per the criteria adopted by those running the knowledge project, which aims at instilling a culture of entrepreneurship through its programmes for this category of businessmen.
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