Date: December 7, 2016
Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC) launched its new initiative, “Tajseer”, a business development platform aimed at connecting small businesses and large companies in the Sultanate. Tajseer – the Arabic word for “bridging” – was launched on December 6 at Bait Al Zubair in Muscat followed by the first business development event under the umbrella of this new initiative. The inauguration event was attended by representatives and executives from leading companies in the Sultanate, and organisations keen on supporting SMEs, as well as a number of entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses, members of Zubair SEC.
Zubair SEC, a social responsibility initiative of The Zubair Corporation, launched the initiative to offer its members an opportunity to network with representatives and decision makers of large companies, with the objective of following up with those key stakeholders towards tangible business development opportunities facilitated by Zubair SEC.
Large companies that took part in the first release of Tajseer events are Aramex, Douglas OHI, Ghantoot Transport & Gen. LLC, INMA, Khimji Infrastructure Group, L & T Oman, Oman Shapoorji (OSCO), Services & Trade, Strabag Construction, Truck Oman, WJ Towell Construction, and Zubair Furnishing. Around 35 Zubair SEC members who were earlier trained to build capacity for pitching and presenting their businesses participated in the first Tajseer event.
The main purpose behind this initiative is to provide a solution for creating market access and instant connectivity. Zubair SEC will facilitate a liaison between the two parties and leverage The Zubair Corporation’s vast customer base and good connections.
Speaking at the event, Khalid Muhammad Al Zubair, Managing Director of The Zubair Corporation said, “We strongly believe in two fundamental values underpinning Zubair Small Enterprises Centre: Cooperation and Partnership. The launch of this new initiative comes on the back of numerous worthwhile initiatives, events and activities designed to support entrepreneurship in the Sultanate- which have been rolled-out by the Zubair SEC in recent years.”
He added, “Through cooperation and partnership with different organisations and bodies in the same field, long term success and sustainability can be achieved. We have understood early on, through our regular contact with entrepreneurs, that what they needed most is access to larger commercial opportunities in order to grow their business, essentially signing agreements with larger corporates in Oman. What they really needed was a mechanism that allowed them to have good access to decision makers in those companies.”
Through Tajseer, we are establishing a platform where large companies and small enterprises regularly meet to discuss and explore ways to develop business. We are very grateful for the leading companies that collaborated with us in establishing the first blocks for this initiative,” he explained.
Zubair SEC is delighted to bring together some of Oman’s top companies who will help and support SMEs to grow, flourish and prosper their businesses in the Omani market. Zubair SEC recognises that connections with leading companies can be critical for smaller enterprises. The newly launched business development platform Tajseer can help owners of small businesses explore opportunities and access the resources they need to manage their companies successfully by networking and talking collaborations with representatives of leading companies.
On the side-lines of the event a representative of a participating leading company said, “We sincerely appreciate this initiative by Zubair SEC. Start-ups fuel job growth and improve the societies we live in; however, many of them lack the resources needed to compete and grow. Tajseer will reduce the communication gap between large companies and small business owners. Tajseer will help them get knowledge, insight, ideas and guidance from some of the largest companies in the Sultanate. Large companies will also explore business opportunities with the participating members of Zubair SEC. It will also help empower small business owners when representatives of large companies address and help to solve their critical business issues. Small business owners, start-ups and new entrepreneurs will have access to a broad base of knowledge, advice and possibilities of collaboration.”
The first Tajseer business development event focussed on three business sectors: construction, logistics, and marketing communications. Zubair SEC will continue to host the Tajseer event throughout the years, approaching different business sectors each time.
The event witnessed remarkable engagement by participants who expressed their appreciation of the opportunity and the effort put behind this initiative; participants made all effort to benefit from the arranged meetings during the second half of the programme and many have left with some good business leads to follow up on.
The current SME marketplace is a combination of many players with thousands of SMEs, with many focused on activities but with large market gaps. Many of the large companies, especially those mandated to extend 10% of their tenders to SMEs are facing difficulty in identifying the suitable capable SMEs to contract with. Recognising this challenge early on, The Zubair Corporation has affected a mandate across the Group companies to extend business contracts, whenever possible, to small enterprises commended and endorsed by Zubair SEC. So far a good number of business deals have been secured with companies within The Zubair Group, facilitated by Zubair SEC team of advisors.