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Join Date: 05 Mar 2015
Location:  OmanPosts: 24 |
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Focus on entrepreneurship as Oman pursues diversification |
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Focus on entrepreneurship as Oman pursues diversification
Muscat: Diversification of the economy and raising the share of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in it by boosting entrepreneurship were discussed at a conference held on Thursday. Titled 'The dynamics of entrepreneurship', the conference was held under the patronage of Dr Rashid Al Huraibi, chairman of the Tender Board of Oman and hosted by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Leading speakers, including industrialists, corporate executives and businessmen discussed entrepreneurship in the Sultanate in course of the conference. The thought-provoking presentations and panel discussions by private and public sector leaders addressed the importance of the SME community in Oman and deliberated on the key issues faced by them. Injaz, one of the key presenters of the conference, spoke of its determination to train students to become entrepreneurs and leaders. Mindset "The real reason we started this project is to infuse the spirit of entrepreneurship and bring about that change in the mindset. Regardless of where you end up, starting your own business or working for an organisation, in the end you will have the spirit of entrepreneurship within you," said Shabib Al Mamari, executive director of Injaz Oman. Dominic De Sousa, founder of privately owned CPI Media Group stated that "Oman has become a regional champion of SME evolution with unrivalled innovation, debate and commercial development in the SME sector." "With a strong diversification agenda, terrific public-private partnership models and flourishing tourism sector, Oman is a great place to do business," said De Sousa. The Dynamics of Entrepreneurship is dedicated to celebrating the efforts of the Omani community and fostering its growth. Although SMEs make up 65 per cent of businesses in Oman, they only contribute 15 per cent to the Sultanate's GDP, which is a factor that needs to be addressed and changed significantly in the next seven to eight years. Discussing the challenges SMEs face while competing against the public sector, Nader Al Rawahy, director, account business development leader, Government and Private Sector of Ernst and Young, said, "SMEs in Oman face high operational costs, which is a big burden on them, as well as marketing limitations, marketing weaknesses and inefficiency, and a lack of sufficient initiative for local products to compete with imported products." "SMEs also face recruitment challenges due to Omanisation percentages and minimum wages paid to Omanis," he further said. It is a well known fact that Omani youth would prefer joining the government sector as opposed to the private sector due to greater benefits and job security offered by the former. In Qatar, 97 per cent of businesses are run by SMEs but they only contribute 3 per cent of the country's GDP, whereas in the United Arab Emirates, SMEs run 62 per cent of the businesses and have contributed 67 per cent to the local economy in a time-frame of nine years. "Oman is at a critical juncture in the development of the SME universe and it maybe a relatively short time before we see a much greater proportion of diversification in the SME space," said Paul Godfrey, group director of Editorial. Commenting on Oman's 15 per cent GDP contribution compared to the UAE, Al Rawahi said, "I know it is a very low percentage, but I believe that initiatives such as this and having the right people in the right place and having them discussing and seeing challenges from the beginning will be game-changers in the next few years." During the event, CPI Media Group and PWC also signed an exclusive deal for the CPI - PWC Insight Series, through which the parties will collaborate and produce world-class reports that will benefit the SME communities in the region. Source:timesofoman.com http://www.timesofoman.com/News/51045/Article-Focus-on-entrepreneurship-as-Oman-pursues-diversification |
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