Date: October 2, 2019
Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC), in collaboration with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Muscat, held two workshops on “Mapping SME Support Ecosystems” and “Measuring Individual and Collective Support Impact”.
Participants in the workshops included representatives of SME and start-up support organisations from the public and private sectors.
The two workshops were conducted by Martin Luxemburg, managing director of Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE), one of the most reputable organisations in Europe in the field of entrepreneurship development, and Lars Crama, founder of InnovatorsInc.com, a curated network of entrepreneurs that offer innovation advisory and corporate venture building support.
The first workshop on “Mapping SME Support Ecosystems” provided an overview on how to conduct an SME support ecosystem mapping exercise for SME support organisations. The example of the Dutch ecosystem was used to understand the significance of the exercise. The workshop concluded with a mapping exercise of participants on their own ecosystems and an elaborated discussion was held on potential collaborations.
The second workshop “Measuring Individual and Collective Support Impact” focused on impact measurement. Several metric tools were provided to help measure the impact of individual SME support organisations and make results more tangible for stakeholders. Participants built on the roles identified from the mapping workshop and dived deeper into the development of the ecosystem. General ecosystem measurement metrics, that will benefit all support organisations and track the progress of the development of the ecosystem itself, were identified during the workshop.
The workshops were organised as part of the existing collaboration between Zubair SEC and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Sultanate. The collaboration resulted earlier in a number of projects and initiatives, including a national empirical research on “the SME Ecosystem in the Sultanate and Seizing Opportunities in Tourism”, followed by workshops on “Business Ideation” and “Social Impact Measurement”. Moreover, and acting on insight from the earlier study, Zubair SEC in 2018, and in collaboration with the Embassy and Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE), organised a 5-day tour to the start-up ecosystem in the Netherlands which was attended by representatives of 10 start-up and SME support organisations in Oman to exchange insight and knowledge with their Dutch counterparts and get introduced to the Dutch experience in supporting entrepreneurship.
Her Excellency Laetitia van Asch, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Sultanate said: ‘’We are pleased at the embassy of the Netherlands with the existing collaboration with Zubair SEC towards developing the private sector by supporting entrepreneurship, SMEs and start-ups. Zubair SEC’s initiatives have been invaluable in this respect”. She added: “This 2-days workshop is one of many previous collaborations with Zubair SEC to strengthen the SME support ecosystem. Through the workshop, expertise and know-how were shared, encouraging collaboration between SME support organisations, and providing networking opportunities. I wish to thank Zubair SEC for their unwavering commitment towards helping SMEs and entrepreneurs across the country, Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE) for their dedication and valuable expertise, and last but not least those who’ve participated in the workshops.’’
Mohammed Mubarak Al Hasani, Chief Communications Officer, The Zubair Corporation, and supervisor of Zubair SEC said, “We have been privileged to have a very fruitful and strong collaboration with the Embassy of the Netherlands in the Sultanate, through which we have vastly enriched our experience in supporting SMEs and entrepreneurs across the past few years. Throughout our close work with the embassy and the team of Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE), we realised the wealth of the Dutch expertise and knowledge that we could benefit from; we also wanted to share that value with our fellow SME support organisations, hence we organised the two-day workshops to follow the SME Support Forum we held the day before, which was attended by various representatives of SME support organisations.
He added, “From day one we have believed that no organisation that seeks sustainable and scalable impact can work in silo; as such we have been very keen on collaborating with other organisations from both the public and private sectors in the Sultanate, while also establishing collaboration with similar organisations outside the country; all within our efforts to increase the chances for more collective support for SMEs and opening channels and market access for them inside and outside the Sultanate. The two-day workshops have proven to be a significant platform for discussions, sharing experiences, brainstorming, and networking, amongst some of the finest organisations eager to support entrepreneurship and SMEs in the region.”
Al Hasani also said: “We thank all participants at the two-day workshops, especially those who flew in from abroad to be with us. We also sincerely extend our gratitude and appreciation to the embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Sultanate, for their fervent efforts across the past years to extend all possible support to the SME ecosystem in the country, and for the wealth of knowledge and insight they brought to our learning experience in serving SMEs and further developing entrepreneurship.” A participant in the workshop said, “All of us spent fruitful two days at the sessions which were eye-opening, very informative, and engaging. Such workshops foster growth and assist in strengthening the SME support ecosystem.”