Despite the attention given by the relevant authorities to self-employment and initiatives aimed at supporting small enterprises, many of these businesses are now experiencing a decline in their activities and operations. Some have even been forced to suspend their commercial activities as a result of policies and decisions that have made it increasingly difficult for them to remain viable and continue operating.
Although the policy of Omanisation is intended to create employment opportunities for Omanis across various institutions and businesses, its implementation has placed a considerable burden on many small enterprises. Some business owners have been unable to bear the associated costs, leading to the closure of a number of businesses in recent years. As a result, some former business owners have joined the ranks of jobseekers while also carrying accumulated debts owed to financing institutions and banks operating in the country.
Many traders today believe that the owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are facing growing burdens from fees, taxes and other financial obligations. In some cases, these obligations arise from relatively minor issues in certain transactions that could potentially be resolved through dialogue and mutual agreement. Nevertheless, they have added significantly to the annual operating costs of these businesses, making it increasingly difficult for their owners to cope with the challenges and, ultimately, forcing some to abandon their commercial activities.
There is therefore a need to help these business owners regularize their circumstances by removing unnecessary obstacles and challenges, while strengthening the partnership between the government and the private sector. This would enable them to continue their daily operations and, more importantly, provide them with genuine incentives and benefits that would support their survival and expansion. Such measures could eventually allow these businesses to increase their workforce and create additional employment opportunities.
Many of these business owners also have personal bank loans in addition to other financial commitments. They therefore need government support if they are expected to continue employing Omani workers, particularly when the income generated by their businesses is insufficient to cover the cost of an Omani employee.
In accordance with Omani regulations that provide for the allocation of 10% of tender projects to SMEs, the government should therefore take the financial circumstances of these enterprises into consideration and ensure that their payments and outstanding dues are settled promptly. This would enable them, in turn, to meet their financial obligations to employees and to the institutions and companies with which they do business.
The Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry also has an important role to play in protecting the interests of these business owners by communicating with government institutions and calling for a reduction in the fees, taxes and other financial obligations imposed on them. It should also seek practical solutions to the challenges associated with Omanisation, particularly where a newly established small business may initially be unable to employ an Omani worker because of limited income.
Such enterprises could be given a reasonable period to improve their financial position and expand their commercial activities before being required to meet the full employment obligations. Similar approaches are applied in a number of countries both within the region and elsewhere.
Where a business owner operates several enterprises, any violation in one business should not automatically result in restrictions on all of the others. And any penalty should therefore be proportionate to the nature, scale and scope of the violation, without creating unnecessary risks for small Omani investors. Measures of this nature can have wider economic consequences for commercial activity if they unintentionally undermine business continuity and investor confidence.
At the same time, government procedures should be streamlined, bureaucracy reduced, and the issuance of licenses and approvals accelerated for these enterprises.
Supporting small businesses is not simply a matter of protecting individual entrepreneurs. It is also an essential component of strengthening the private sector, promoting economic diversification, creating employment opportunities and achieving the broader objectives of Oman Vision 2040.
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