Date: December 9, 2013
In alignment with the June 2013 Royal Decree from His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said calling on the private sector to lend support to entrepreneurs and the growing SME sector in the sultanate, The Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC) launched a competition open to all aspiring Omani entrepreneurs and small business owners. Today, The Zubair Small Enterprises Centre is proud to announce the first 8 winners who have been selected to receive the direct support from the centre.
- Eman Mohammed Al Farsi (Asrar Arabia)
- Ali Mousa (Motorsport Solutions)
- Mohammed Al Lawati (MathaQ)
- Wafa, Shatha, Waad, Ahed Al Jabri (Meshan Dates and Sweets)
- Odai Al Dahmani (Areej Decorations)
- Nadia Al Shamsi (Nadia Jewelry)
- Yasser Al Abdullah (Memories Studios)
- Jokha Al Husaini (Shumookh Engineering Consulting)
Commenting on the importance of supporting entrepreneurs, Khalid Al Zubair, Managing Director of The Zubair Corporation noted; “His Majesty’s directive towards supporting and sponsoring aspiring entrepreneurs and the SME sector is a very important message for business, as the private sector is the cornerstone of economic development in our economy. Therefore, supporting the Omani youth and their small enterprises is a national obligation and a collective responsibility to achieve success. Today, we are witnessing a positive movement, which complements the efforts made by the government in this case.”
Khalid Al Zubair also personally congratulated the winning applicants, who will gain full support from Zubair SEC via the Entrepreneur Direct Support Program. He noted; “Zubair SEC is looking forward to investing and supporting your projects, and witnessing your contribution to the growing SME sector in the Sultanate. By exerting your efforts and working harder to innovate, you can achieve your goals, and your business will be of great benefit both to you, and the economic future of the country.”
Of the 65 aspiring Omanis who entered the competition, eight entrepreneurs have been chosen to participate in the Zubair SEC Entrepreneur Direct Support Program. The aim was to find entrepreneurial leaders who demonstrated a clear potential to create sustainable businesses for the future, businesses that will make a meaningful contribution to the maturing economy of Oman. Since the announcement of the Zubair SEC competition, it has been met with great enthusiasm and aspiring entrepreneurs have submitted business ideas and plans, together with supporting documentation, from across the Sultanate.
The Zubair SEC Entrepreneur Direct Support Program was started by The Zubair Group of Companies as a new initiative emanating from Group’s CSR strategic vision to support Omani society, a vision reflecting the belief in the great importance of small enterprises and entrepreneurs in enhancing and diversifying the national economy. The Zubair SEC Direct Support Program will offer various activities for the benefit of the winning entrepreneurs, including; one-on-one business advisory sessions, access to seed capital and a network of partners and mentors for counsel, management training classes, access to research and industry reports, ready-made offices and management tools, to name a few.
The criteria used by Zubair SEC to select the entrepreneurs included a detailed and comprehensive assessment of the submitted business plan – unique characteristics and contribution to the Omani market, the entrepreneur’s personality and experience, characteristics of the product/service, characteristics of the target market, financial soundness of the venture and characteristics of the venture team.