Companies tie up with riyada to support entrepreneurs in Oman

Muscat: A number of companies have joined hands with the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (riyada) to provide special offers to entrepreneurs.

Under the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) signed on Tuesday, the products and services of these companies in various fields, including training and development, will be offered to SMEs at discounted rates, said a riyada official.

“It shows the real partnership between the government sector and the private sector for the benefit of SMEs,” the official told reporters after the signing ceremony attended by Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy and a number of other senior officials and entrepreneurs.

The MoUs were signed with Oman Air, Omantel, Bank Nizwa, Tecnimont Civil Construction, Maire Tecnimont, Insight for Financial and Business Consulting, DHL Express, Oman Data Park and Prosper management consultancy.

The call centre of the Muscat Municipality will also be used for SMEs as part of the cooperation between the municipality and riyada.

The official noted that those entrepreneurs who are registed with riyada and hold ‘riyada card’ can utilise the services and products offered under the signed MoUs.

There are above 500 riyada card holders, he said.

He added that more companies are expected to come on board to support SMEs in cooperation with riyada.

The progress made on the decisions of the symposium for SMEs held at Sultan Qaboos University earlier this year was also discussed during the event. A number of government bodies, including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education, riyada, the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Civil Services, the Ministry of Finance and the Tender Board, delivered presentations on the latest steps that they have taken to implement the decisions related to SMEs.

According to the riyada official, good progress has been made in this regard.

Their presentations highlighted their efforts regarding a decision that calls for dedicating a department at each public organisation to follow up the implementation of allocating 10 per cent of the governmental purchases and tenders for SMEs and ensure accelerating the payment of their outstanding dues.
Citation from : Times Of Oman :http://goo.gl/5ob2wA