NIZWA, Nov 21 - A seminar on ‘Entrepreneurship Reality and Ambition’ and an accompanying exhibition were organised by the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Al Dakhiliyah, at Entertainment Center in Manah on Tuesday.
Shaikh Dr Khalifa bin Hamad al Saadi, Governor of Al Dakhiliyah, led the seminar. He was joined by Shaikh Musallam bin Mohammed al Wahshi, Wali of Manah, members of the State Council and Majlis Ash’shura, Shaikhs of from Manah and business owners.
The seminar was held to back the government’s plans to encourage entrepreneurial initiatives that contribute to development of the Sultanate.
It was aimed at introducing programmes supporting self-employment projects, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), main engine of economy.
The seminar reviewed investment opportunities for entrepreneurs and the required procedures for registering their projects as well as incentives provided by authorities for developing the business environment.
The seminar began with a welcome speech by Shaikh Ibrahim bin Said al Nabhani, chairman of the board of directors of OCCI branch, Al Dakhiliyah Governorate.
He said: “Self-employment requires great efforts from the owner. The secret of any successful business is the employer’s belief in the importance of his work and diligence.”
“OCCI pays special attention to small and medium enterprises through its specialised committees, which are responsible for the development of labour market,” Al Nabhani said.
Four lectures were presented. The first was by Shaikh Hatem bin Hamad al Tai, a member of the State Council & editor-in-chief of Al Roya newspaper.
Speaking about SMEs, he recalled the words of His Majesty the Sultan in encouraging citizens to move to the private sector. He said that it is clear the government cannot absorb all the young graduates. He also dwelt on the economic crisis and the lessons learnt from it.
Tariq bin Sulaiman al Farsi, CEO of Al Raffd Fund, spoke about the fund’s efforts in achieving its objectives through a series of measures.
Al Raffd Fund offered 1,860 loans by the end of last September and provided more than 3,000 jobs for Omanis.
“This year, Al Raffd Fund launched financing programmes in line with the government’s approach to support different sectors in the Sultanate. A series of business and service contracts have been signed between institutions benefiting from the fund, and the private and government institutions, exceeding RO 5 million,” said Al Farsi.
Khalid bin Alsafi al Harbi, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Public Authority for SMEs development, spoke about the strategic objectives by 2020.
Abdulrahman bin Nasser al Rawahi, Director of Monitoring and Follow-up in SME Development Fund, spoke about the role of the fund to create an enabling environment for SMEs through capability enhancement training in conjunction with oil and gas majors and big corporates, and easy access to finance, including asset financing, debt factoring, working capital and project financing.
AMAL AL RIYAMI
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