Date: June 25, 2018
As part of its commitment to adopt winners of Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC)’s Direct Support Programme, Ara Petroleum, oil exploration and production company ARA Petroleum, has started collaborating with the chosen programme winner for 2018. ARA Petroleum had adopted the seat of DSP winner Hassan Ali Mohammed Al Lawati, owner of ROVE Adventures’.
Zubair SEC has been able to scale up its impact of Direct Support Programme thanks to a number of Support Partners who have showed trust in the programme and contributed to its success by adopting seats like, Oasis Logistics in 2016, Ominvest in 2017. In 2018, the leading investment company Ominvest was encouraged from its experience in 2017 with the adopted seat, and decided to adopt a new seat for the 2018 round. Giving another boost to programme, ARA Petroleum, a dynamic entrant to the exploration and production industry of the oil and gas sector in Oman decided to adopt one of the seats of Direct Support Programme 2018.
Soon after the winners of the Direct Support Programme were announced, Zubair SECheld intensive meetings with the winners to agree on the plan of action for the coming year. Once the strategy was chalked out, Zubair SEC organised a signing of agreement meeting between ARA Petroleum and the winner Hassan Ali Mohammed Al Lawati to kick off collaboration.
The agreement signed encompassed major KPIs and the objectives of the collaboration. The role of Support Partners is not only financial, but the collaboration will tap on the deep experiences, guidance and business opportunity from the two companies. It may be recalled that Zubair SEC had recently signed a collaboration agreement with ARA Petroleum in support of SMEs and social impact development. Specialists from the Centre and ARA Petroleum executives made plans to promote community initiatives in step with the local in-country value. In line with the objective of the plan, ARA Petroleum adopted the programme seat of Hassan Ali Mohammed Al Lawati owner of ROVE Adventures.
Ali Shaker, Advisor – Business Development & Strategic Partnerships at Zubair SEC said, “We are very happy with the achievements of the Support Partner platform. It echoes the significance of the Direct Support Programme and how well it is perceived. That’s why it has attracted big names to come and support our members. Oman’s leading companies coming forward to back Zubair SEC indicates that they are helping nurture a dynamic and vibrant ecosystem that promotes entrepreneurship and innovation. We are certain that support from large companies such as ARA Petroleum will open doors for opportunities for new entrepreneurs. We are immensely grateful for the unstinted support from Ara Petroleum.”
Sultan Al Ghaithi, CEO, ARA Petroleum said, “Being in the oil and gas business, ARA Petroleum drives an earnest endeavour to participate in building the country’s economy and extending tangible support to the society. We are delighted to adopt the DSP seat won by Hassan Al Lawati, founder of ROVE Adventures that focuses on adventure and inbound tourism packages. His company endeavours to endorse Oman’s tourism potential, while ensuring that the local communities benefit from tourism in the Sultanate. We look forward to working closely with Hassan. We are proud to collaborate with Zubair SEC with its proven track record in supporting small businesses and playing a key role in nourishing the performance and sustainability of its members.
Thanking all concerned for their support, Hassan Al Lawati said, “I am delighted that I have the support of a leading company like ARA Petroleum. This will help my company accomplish its vision to be recognised as a leading tourism company. I would also like to extend my deep gratitude to Zubair SEC for their wide-ranging support and guidance. They have repetitively guaranteed that start-ups such as my company are sustained so that we can continue to grow and flourish.”
Winners of Zubair SEC’s Direct Support Programme for the year 2018 were announced recently. The Programme which has established a very reputable and credible positioning in the SMEs arena has grown extraordinarily. This is the fifth edition of the Programme organised by Zubair SEC, a social responsibility initiative of The Zubair Corporation. The programme has been providing support and close mentorship to high-potential young entrepreneurs and business owners for the last five years, and has signed up on board 48 winners in its five editions so far.
Zubair SEC’s Direct Support Programme is considered one of the most important programmes in the field of entrepreneurship support in the Sultanate. The programme aims at creating a spirit of positive competition between Zubair SEC’s members to enrol in the programme, and thus earn a package of essential services and grants to launch and maintain successful and sustainable businesses through set working plans implemented in cooperation between the Centre and the programme members.