Muscat, Oct 22
Some of the biggest challenges for young entrepreneurs in starting a green business are the lack of awareness, followed by the lack of training and mentorship and not having enough capital, according to the participants of
a workshop on "Green Entrepreneurship" organised by the Environment Society Oman and Asyad Group.
Khalid al Huraibi, Managing Director, Impact Integrated, was the moderator. “A key takeaway from the workshop is that there is a growing potential of green entrepreneurship and cleantech startups in Oman. Founders from Oman in fields such as circular economy and green data centres noted how the demand has been growing more over the past five years due to the rising environmental awareness in the communities," he said.
An audience poll showed that the number one priority today for both students, founders and experts is for the ecosystem to offer incentives that make green entrepreneurship more financially sustainable. The workshop also highlighted the importance of awareness of the new green incubators, accelerators and initiatives.
The panelists were Dr Dina Belal, Assistant Manager, SME Development Department at Sharakah; Michael Laermann, Managing Director at Reason and Rhyme, Senior Policy Adviser at Ecopreneur.eu; Sadiya al Bakri, Founder of EFP Oman, an eco-friendly packaging company using recycled materials; and Sharifa al Kalbani, founder of Biocool-Teq, AI-driven sustainable cooling systems.
"Drastic steps need to be taken by the policy makers," said Al Bakri.
Dr Belal noted that renewable energy has huge potential.
The majority of the attendees said there should be more support.
They pointed out that agriculture, drip irrigation, vertical gardening and organic farming are all areas that can be developed for green entrepreneurship.
While describing her journey, Al Bakri said, "We do not segregate the waste, and this was my biggest challenge because I was wondering where I was going to get my waste paper from. Today, I have 60 partners. Now, because of the environment, social and governance requirements, people are calling. It is the mindset that needs to be changed. We have talks, but we need actions; for example, we need to have facilities."
Al Kalbani said, "Most companies are worried about profit. We are working on improving our hardware. If the product is cheaper, companies are interested. Eco-friendly products are still expensive in Oman. Circular economy is the answer today."
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