Riyada issues regulation to support 20 craft industries

Qais Mohammed bin al Yousuf, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Riyada), issued a regulation to support craft industries pursuant to Resolution No 262/ 2022.

This regulation confirms the active role of craftsmen and the importance of developing handicraft industries in the Sultanate of Oman.

Craft industries annex, attached to the regulation, included 20 types of craft industries, including distilling flowers and herbs, the production of water and frankincense oil, making and processing incense, cosmetics and perfumes, besides fabric or wool craft products, leather, fronds and wood products, pottery and porcelain products, stone and gypsum and craft products derived from bones.

It also included retailing in specialised stores for pottery and handicrafts, making handicraft products of silver, copper, metal and aluminium, retailing in specialised stores for silverware and gifts, making Omani daggers, retailing in specialised stores for Omani daggers, making craft products for traditional fishing tools and retailing in Handicraft stores.

In accordance with Article (2) of the resolution, the authority shall support the craft industries stipulated in the appendix. It may also support craft industries supervised by NGOs. In accordance with Article (3), a committee is formed within Riyada to decide on requests for support, whose names of members, terms of reference, powers and work system are to be defined by the Chairman.

According to the regulation specified in Article (4), there are conditions and procedures to support an individual. The craftsman should be Omani, registered in the authority's database, holds a license from the competent authority to practice the craft industry, has specialised vocational training programmes approved by the authority and has successfully completed the course or has the practical experience as valued by the authority.

It is also required that he manages and supervises the craft industry subject of the subsidy, never having previously been granted subsidies during the two years preceding the submission of the application and that he has a specific location to practice the craft industry in question.

For the craft institution to receive support - in accordance with Article (5) of the decision - it is required that the craft activity be added to the trade register of the institution, registered in the authority's database, not have previously been granted support during the two years preceding the submission of the application and that it have a specific location to practice the industry is the subject of support.

The request shall be submitted to the authority on the form prepared for this purpose, accompanied by the documents and data specified in the form attached to the decision. In accordance with Article (6), the authority may complete any other documents or data it deems necessary to decide on the support request.

The competent department of the authority shall study the support requests, verify that they meet all conditions and requirements and submit them to the committee. It shall notify the applicant in the event that his application does not meet the conditions and requirements of the deficiencies in his application and give him a period not exceeding (30) days from the date of his notification to complete the deficiencies, otherwise, the application shall be considered cancelled.

According to Article (9) of the decision, the committee shall decide on the request for support within a period not exceeding 30 days from the date the request was referred to it by the competent department. In the event of the request being rejected, the rejection decision must be justified. Under Article (10), the committee determines the value and ways of disbursing the support provided to the beneficiary within the limits of the amounts specified for the craft industries stipulated in the annex to the decision.

The third chapter of the regulation specified the obligations of the beneficiary of the support, which included: Adherence to the aspects of support disbursement specified by the committee, enabling the authority to obtain information and data related to the craft industry in question, to use and share it with the competent bodies, cooperating with the authority to follow up the progress of the craft industry project in question, in addition to notifying the authority in the event of a change in the specific location for practising the craft industry.

And in accordance with Article (13), the decision of support before disbursing its value shall be cancelled by a decision from the chairman in the following cases: If it was proven that the support was obtained through fraud way, submission of incorrect documents or information, if there was a court ruling resulted in the termination of the craft industry, or if it is impossible to continue its implementation. Besides, the support will be cancelled if the project subject of the subsidy was subject to sale or other legal actions, or in the case of death, the total disability of the beneficiary that prevents him from practicing the project. Yet, the chairman may agree to continue granting support to one of the heirs who meet the conditions stipulated in Article (4) of the decision based on a request signed by the remaining heirs.