Date: June 23, 2016
As part of its special ‘Tajribati’ discussion series for Ramadhan, Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC) focused the first session on the significant role that media can play in featuring and promoting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The ‘Tajribati’ session also discussed how the media can provide young entrepreneurs a platform to voice their hopes and aspirations. Speakers included prominent media professionals from Oman including Ali al Matani, Salem al Habsi, Awad Baqweir and a member of Zubair SEC Muna al Khusaibi.
This Ramadhan marks a year since Zubair SEC, a social responsibility initiative by The Zubair Corporation, launched the ‘Tajribati’ initiative. The sessions have been facilitating transparent and constructive discussions on topics of high importance to the SME sector in the Sultanate. The ‘Tajribati’ series serves as a unique platform to connect business experts with start-up owners and new entrepreneurs to exchange views, discuss common challenges and share best practices.
The discussion on the role of the media in promoting SMEs was very engaging and participants were provided with a lot of insight by the speakers.
Zubair SEC member Muna al Khusaibi, founder of Kidani shared her insight and experience on how good media coverage and being featured on different media platforms helped promote her business and entrepreneurial journey.
Thanking Zubair SEC for hosting the session, Salim al Habsi, Chairman, GCC Sport Journalism said, “As an entrepreneur myself I understand that media is an important part of the marketing strategies in business life.”
Al Habsi talked about how to overcome challenges faced by the SMEs in trying to reach media and talked about the importance of media featuring small businesses.
Urging SMEs to adopt a media strategy Al Habsi said, “I would be pleased to cooperate and extend support to SMEs in my capacity as some media personnel.”
Highlighting the importance of cooperation between SMEs and the media, Awad Baqweir, Chairman of Omani Journalists Association, said, “SMEs must put a concerted effort to be proactive in reaching out to the media. They must realise it is important to share their positive stories with the media.”
Baqweir also added, “I laud the efforts of Zubair SEC in organising a dedicated Tajribati session on this important topic. The participants must have gained a lot of understanding from the session.”
Muna al Khusaibi once again expressed gratitude to the Zubair SEC efforts for feature its members in local and regional media channels. As one of the Zubair SEC’s Direct Support Programme winners, she enjoyed some good media exposure and featuring in local and regional media platforms as part of the support Zubair SEC provides to its members.