Date: February 11, 2018
Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC) recently signed a collaboration agreement with ARA Petroleum in support of SMEs. The signing ceremony was attended by Hussam Muhammad Al Zubair, Board Member of the Zubair Corporation (Z-Corp) and senior executives from ARA Petroleum, The Zubair Corporation and Zubair SEC.
As per the agreement, ARA Petroleum will adopt one of the seats of Zubair SEC’s Direct Support Programme 2018 which will be announced in few weeks. ARA Petroleum is keen on collaborating with Zubair SEC to maximise the In-Country Value of its operations in Oman and extend all possible support to members of the Centre.
Zubair SEC is a social responsibility initiative of The Zubair Corporation and ARA Petroleum, established by Z-Corp, is a new, dynamic entrant to the exploration and production industry of the O&G Sector in Oman.
Speaking of the signing, Hussam Muhammad Al Zubair said, “This agreement is significant because social impact efforts which are in collaboration between multiple stakeholders, would help ensure scalable results. We cannot work in isolation and when we work collectively we achieve much better outcomes. I am very proud of the effort of Zubair SEC and the centre is further developing its reach, effort and providing innovation and diversity in its services.”
He added, “Though ARA Petroleum is a new endeavour it is good to see that their social development intentions are demonstrated clearly at the very early stages of launching business. This is a healthy indicator for the business itself.”
Sultan Al Ghaithi, CEO, ARA Petroleum said, “We are immensely pleased to be associated with the Zubair SEC. Being a new venture in the Oil & Gas business, ARA Petroleum drives an earnest endeavour to participate in building the country’s economy and extending tangible support to the society. Considering the value addition rendered by Zubair SEC to small enterprises, ARA would be extending an additional arm to support the strategic objective of Zubair SEC, in its efforts to support their members to be self-sufficient, while sustaining their entrepreneurship.”
He further stressed that “Business enterprises must also take initiatives to reach out and participate in the overall development of the society, which indeed would bring wholesome and constructive reciprocation”.
Nauzer Nowroji, Senior Advisor at Zubair SEC said, “Our Direct Support Programme has been growing in credibility remarkably; we are on to the fifth edition this year. Leading business names have been adopting seats in the programme which reflects how well positioned the programme has become. It has been significantly evolving and the trust demonstrated by our partners reflects the integrity and the good positioning that we have achieved during the past four rounds of the programme.” He added, “when our members are adopted by such leading companies, there is tremendous value they attain through the knowledge sharing and expertise extended to them by the adopting organisation. In addition to that, in many cases this collaboration opens doors for business development that has proven in several occasions to take the member in a progress leap”.
Though there would be multiple facets of collaboration to come between Zubair SECand ARA Petroleum, the start is significant as ARA Petroleum is adopting a seat in the fifth round of Zubair SEC’s Direct Support Programme; a flagship programme by Zubair SEC which has achieved important positioning in the SME support ecosystem across the past few years. The programme has been providing support and advisory to high-potential young entrepreneurs and business owners for the last four years.
As part of Zubair SEC’s efforts to engage leading companies in the efforts of SMEs development and bridging between large and small enterprises, the Centre has signed several previous agreements with companies that adopted seats of the Direct Support Programme, including Oasis Logistics and Ominvest.
Zubair SEC, a social responsibility initiative of The Zubair Corporation, has been keenly investing in business development opportunities for its members by collaborating with the Zubair Group companies in many cases and other leading organisations in the Sultanate. Demonstrating good will, many Zubair Group companies have joined forces with Zubair SEC to explore collaboration in support of SMEs in the Sultanate.