Muscat: The main committee of the Entrepreneurship Award announced that a ceremony unveiling winners of the fourth edition of the Award will be hosted next Monday, 23 November 2020. The event will take place under the auspices of HH Sayyid Taimour bin Asaad bin Tarik al Said.
The award is organised by the Public Authority of Small and Medium Enterprises Development in partnership with Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) for the second consecutive edition.
This year’s theme of the Award is ‘Competition and Innovation’ as these attributes reflect the Award’s goals of instilling a culture of entrepreneurship within the community. It also aims to promote excellence and innovation, as well as strengthening the capacities of SMEs to further compete in the market. Furthermore, the initiative seeks to reinforce In-Country Value (ICV) by allying with local businesses and driving the Sultanate’s efforts of economic diversification based on knowledge and technological advancements.
Previously, the Award’s assessment team concluded the assessment phase for all categories. This phase included visiting participants and interviewing them based on a set of criteria approved by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), which is a non-profit organisation established to support sustainable economic development.
Succeeding the assessments, participants moved to the judging phase, which was conducted by 11 jurors selected locally and internationally. The jurors are well-known for their extensive experience in the field of entrepreneurship and were chosen as per specific criteria and fields in line with the Award’s categories.
This year’s edition consists of two main categories. The first one is the ‘Entrepreneur Award’, which comprises the Best Entrepreneur Award, Best Home Project, Best Small Enterprise Award, Best Micro Enterprise Award and Best Medium Enterprise Award. The second category is the ‘Entrepreneurship Supporters Award’, consisting of Best Finance Award, Best Corporate Support Award, Government Best Supporting Agency, Best Educational Initiative Award, Best Media Initiative Award and Best Development Initiative Award.
The fourth edition of the Award also witnesses an increase in the amounts dedicated to the sub-categories under Entrepreneurship Award to RO 180,000. The total is divided into RO 87,000 as cash prizes and RO 93,000 for support programmes aimed at developing skills and knowledge of the winners.
The support programmes provided by the Award will be open to all participants who qualified for the judging phase to help them further enhance their capabilities and encourage them to innovate. This, ultimately, will accomplish the Award’s objectives of developing the national SMEs and uplifting this vital sector in the Sultanate.
The fourth edition has outdone previous Awards in terms of participation as it witnessed the highest number of contenders. Around 691 people entered for various categories. Muscat saw the largest number with 302 participants, followed by the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah with 77 entries and North Al Batinah with 75. --ONA
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