Date: January 28, 2020
Zubair SEC, a social impact initiative by the Zubair Corporation to support the growth of SMEs in Oman, and the Business Incubators and Accelerators Company (BIAC), a Saudi government company owned by “TAQNIA” that is owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support the SME sector in Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The partnership will allow both parties to boost SME’s collaboration between Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and provide access to the local market, network, and potential investors in their respective countries.
In addition, the partnership also leaves abundant room for Zubair SEC and the Badir Program for Technology Incubators and Accelerators, which is managed and operated by BIAC, to cooperate on several fronts to support startups and contribute to the economy by creating quality employment opportunities.
Mohammed Mubarak Al Hasani, Chief Communications Officer at The Zubair Corporation and Supervisor of Zubair SEC said, “This significant collaboration marks yet another highpoint for Zubair SEC’s efforts to open business development opportunities for our members. We are pleased to team up with Badir Programme, which is managed and operated by BIAC. This collaboration increases prospects for entrepreneurs to create innovative new businesses and we hope it will bear promising results in the near future.”
Established in 2013, Zubair SEC is today a professional body that capitalises on its high professionalism, diversified offered knowledge, wide range of accumulated expertise, and its own global and local network and strategic partners to extend advisory and business development support to small businesses in the Sultanate.
BIAC focus is to establish, operate and manage business incubators and accelerators as well as entrepreneurship support platforms, innovation programs and technology transfer. One of its important program’s is the Innovation Center for Industry 4.0 (ICI4), an initiative that strives to provide a specialized platform for business and industry activities related to Industry 4.0
Managed, developed, and operated by BIAC, the Badir Program aims to support and create opportunities for business enterprises in the technological field. Since its launch until the end of the second quarter of 2019, the Program has incubated nearly 655 technical projects and successfully raised around SAR 334 million ($89 million).