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The Mirror of the Omani Economy

Al Roya Business Award

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"Various parts of the Sultanate have absorbed many national workers and the private sector has proved its cooperation in shouldering the responsibility as it assumed a tangible role in cooperating with the government and boosting sustainable development efforts. We are looking forward to a greater role to be played by the private sector in the future, particularly in the field of the development of human resources. We are looking with satisfaction at the efforts made by the government during the recent past in implementing our directives to employ thousands of our sons and daughters in the civil, security and military sectors, and we could also like to express our appreciation for the efforts made by the private sector in this important domain".
From the Royal Speech delivered by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos on the occasion of the inauguration of the Council of Oman on 31/10/2011

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About Al Roya
Al Roya is a comprehensive business newspaper which adopts a moderate media approach. As a private newspaper relying on its editorial policy, freedom of speech in the Sultanate and the elevated ceiling of constructive criticism. It also relies on the awareness of the Omani journalists and adopts only robust and transparent media that mirror concerns particularly the ignored ones. Al Roya works diligently to fill the information gap that exists in different aspects particularly the businesses and financial sectors. Al Roya has pledged itself from the very beginning to raise the level of economic awareness, and establish a state of movement in the association by implementing novel and robust content, delivered to the reader in a new style that will inevitably lead him to active thinking, speculation and interaction with his newspaper. One of the focal points and top priorities of Al Roya is the daily concerns, grievances, aspirations, dreams and dilemmas of people. Quality editorial work and reporting providers the reader with facts and information that have not been exaggerated or embellished. Moreover, Al Roya has dedicated itself to be the pulse that actually gauges the pangs associated with new developments, concerns and hardships in the Omani arena. Al Roya abides strictly by the accuracy policy of tracking news using all means available, and avoids following rumors, superstitions and predictions. Al Roya adopts an objective policy removed from exaggeration, overstatement or news fabrication.to create a clear-cut distinction between news and opinions as well as between an announcement and editorial materials. One of the axioms that Al Roya believes in is the adherence to total transparency, avoiding the obliteration of facts and defending the reader's rights to knowledge in addition to the right to reply and comment on what is being published in the newspaper as well as putting the news from the Omani street in its list of priorities.

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Programme
Number 1 2 Event Welcome speech by Iman bint Al Safi Al Huraibi a journalist at Al Roya Newspaper An introductory film (Al Roya, A mirror of the Omani economy) Al Roya, a Story, a Success, a Partnership in Economic Development, by Hatim bin Hamad Al Taie, Editor in Chief Approx 7:30 7:35-7:40

7:40-8:00

4 5

Experiences of a young entrepreneur The Speech of the Assessment Committee by Dr. Nasser bin Rashid AL Mowaly Presentation of the Awards Dinner

8:00-8:15 8:15-9:10

6 7

9:15

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Mirroring the Economic Media


Editor- in- Chiefs Speech.

The print media plays a pivotal role in stimulating and supporting the diversity of activities in all aspects of life. Since its inception as the first business newspaper in the Sultanate, Al Roya has pledged itself to play pioneering and unconventional roles in our media message and our communty particularly in the business community. Thanks to Allah, Al Roya has achieved a lot in various fields during the first two years of its professional life, and now as we move into our third year, it offers a pioneering initiative represented by The Al Roya Business Award. It is an initiative which conforms to our enlightened approach adopted since the first issue. Apropos, it pledges all it resources and capability in the service of the community based on the belief that loving the country requires putting forth creative and innovative initiatives to contribute to supporting its advancement and development. It is an integral part of paying back, in kind, for this country, its pioneers and innovative people in all business fields. This has made it essential for us to honour all those who offered creative and innovative methods to help develop this country. There are many of these elite people in our country. The initiative aims to highlight the achievements of businesses both in the private and public sectors based on the partnership of community building. We need to share in the success of these enterprises, circulating their experiences and narrating stories of the hardships they encountered at the start of their projects. The way to success is steeped with strenuous challenges. All such challenges can be overcome by a strong will, determination and systematic management. Our Omani community is full of success stories which need to be recognized as well as honoured and used so that we share their experiences, and create successful role models to be adopted by the youth in their pursuit of success and in serving the community. A question which may trouble some people is: What has the media to do with all these issues? Our reply to this question is that the media is a mirror of community and is intrinsically assigned to this task and much more. The initiative aims to establish a professional culture to support and raise awareness of Omans economy and provide role models to encourage young entrepreneurs, within the framework of small and medium enterprises, to promote SMEs
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About the Award


It is a quality initiative to explore successful developmental enterprise and to honour its owners and managers as well as identifying its creative ideas, conducted by Al Roya Press and Publishing House represented by Al Roya Newspaper for the purpose of enhancing the role of the local media in supporting the Omani economy. Furthermore, the award focuses on the Omani economy and pioneers through encouraging the entrepreneurs of economic and commercial enterprises as well as appraising their efforts. The award aims to establish economic business models brought to the scene whether by male or female entrepreneurs and set such models as successful national models to be adopted in the development of the Omani economy.

Objectives of the Award


To hone the skills of Omani business entrepreneurs and commercial enterprises owners, in an attempt to encourage them to develop their businesses. To contribute towards improving the skills of male and female entrepreneurs and developing enterprises. To contribute towards creating business entrepreneurs for establishments adopting sustainability in its projects. Introducing models of success. Interacting with the Sultanate's trend and strategy of diversifying the income resources. Identifying the role of local media in supporting the national income and introducing the different economic opportunities and sectors. Enhancing the role of media in leveraging the specialized media in the Sultanate by supporting business entrepreneurs and commercial enterprises. Exchanging expertise and ideas among entrepreneurs and commercial enterprises.

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Awards Standards
The availability of a written plan for the company. The availability of a marketing plan. Capabilities of the management staff such as (their academic qualifications, training courses, past research studies, scientific researches, proposals, publications and years of experience). The level of innovation . The project must be successful in terms of Annual profit. Omanization ratio. Community service and social responsibility

Main Awards
Al Roya Award for the best business enterprise (Government Sector). Al Roya Award for the best business enterprise (Public Sector) . Al Roya Award for the best business enterprise (Individuals). Al Roya Award for the best small and medium enterprises.

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Assessment Committee
Consists of a group of academic, economic, social and media experts who have made prominent contributions in the field of business and economics. The committee consists of the following members: Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdullah Al Harthy Chairman of the Omani Economic Association Dr. Salah Abdurrahman Al Talib Economist Dr. Nasir bin Rashed Al Mowaly Academic Mr. Hatim bin Hamad AL Taie Editor-in-Chief of Al Roya Newspaper Mr. Ahmed bin Saeed Kshoob Economic Expert Mr. Abdullah bin Saeed Al Shaeily Head of News Oman TV Miss. Iman bint Al Safi Al Huraibi Journalist at Al Roya Newspaper

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Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Harthy


Chairman of the Omani Economic Association. He is an economic expert and consultant. He graduated with a BA in Business Administration and Accounting from the United States of America in 1979. He was also awarded a Masters Degree in Economics from the United States of America in 1981. He participated in the work of several government committees, seminars and conferences held in various countries around the world. He holds the Medal of Good Civil Service Appreciation - 1st class, awarded in 1990. He is Author of the Oman Encyclopedia Confidential Documents - 6 Volumes issued by Arab Unity Studies Centre - Beirut, in 2007. He is a translator of Al Mudarib and Ibra Book Two models of the traditional Omani city. He participated in the membership and the chairmanship of the boards of many companies. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Organization for Translation - Beirut. A member of the Founding Mohammed bin Abdullah Committee of the Federation of Arab Translators Beirut, a member bin Hamad Al-Harthy of the Federation of Arab translators - Beirut. Member of the Management Development Forum. Member of Founding Committee of Omani Economic Association, a member of the Founding Committee of the Gulf Economic Association, a Board member of the Gulf Economic Association, Bahrain.

Dr. Salah Al Talib


He is an economic and finance market expert in the Capital Market Authority. He assumed many positions in the finance and banking sectors during the period from 1971 to 1992 in the Republic of Iraq and Bahrain. He also worked as an instructor of finance and banking management for 20 years in various academic institutions and universities. He participated in scientific research in a number of local, regional and international conferences during the period from 1977 up to the present day. He worked in banking management, finance analysis, stock market, financial crisis management and international economy. Moreover, he managed a number of university level scientific seminars and a number of TV and radio seminars in fields related to capital market, finance analysis, international economy, financial crisis management and banking management. He has published more than 40 studies and articles in a number of newspapers and scientific magazines specialized and non-specialized in banking management, international economy, capital market, financial analysis and management. He assumed various managerial posts during the period from 1976 to the present day some of which are deputy manager of the Dr Salah Al Talib Gulf International Bank / Bahrain during the period from 1976 to 1983, Assistant General Manager, Al Arafidin Bank, Iraq during the period from 1984 until 1990, Faculty Assistant Dean, Al Hadba University, Iraq during the period from 1998 until 2001, Finance and Banking Section Chief, Jarash University, Jordan during the period from 2003 until 2006, Insurance Committee Member at Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
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Dr. Nasir bin Rashid Al Mowaly


He is an Associate Professor in Economy at the Finance and Economy Department, Sultan Qaboos University. He assumed the position of Chief of the Academic Group at the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation. He is a Board Member and one of the founders of the Omani Economic Association. He is a professional member in the American Economic Association. He is one of the external observers at the Omani Accreditation Council, a member of the Omani Network for Quality, a member of the Consultation Council of the Colleges of Applied Sciences, a member of the Board of Trustees for Oman College for Administration and Technology, an expert in licensing the academic programmes of the Ministry of Higher Education. He held the position of an expert at the Court of Appeal in the Sultanate. He participated in the Omani Encyclopedia by writing about Omani international commerce. His studies tackled the specialty of trade and economy influx, intellectual property rights and economical growth. Many of his articles were published and he presented a number of his research papers at many local and international conferences. Furthermore, he was assigned to assess a number of scientific journals and seminars and was presented with many awards.

Dr. Nasir bin Rashid Al Mowaly

Hatim bin Hamad Al Taie


Hatim al Taie, is the founder and editor-in-chief of Al Roya, Omans first in depth business daily newspaper. He established Al Roya Press and Publishing House in 1994, publishing books in English and Arabic specialising in Omans history, culture, travel and the environment as well several monthly magazines. He graduated from the University of Rabat, Morocco, with a Bachelor of Law degree and followed this with a Masters degree in International Law from the New York University, USA. He has contributed articles to various periodicals in the field of art and culture, and continues to do so. He has been invited to lecture at various seminars and conferences, with both a local and international presence.
Hatim bin Hamad Al Taie

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Ahmed bin Saeed Kshoob


He is the CEO of Trust International for Investment, a board member of Muscat Capital Market Authority, board member of the Financial Intermediary Association, an accredited trainer at the Ministry of Manpower, an accredited trainer of human resources, manager of Maharat Centre for Human Resources, a lecturer for some programmes and courses held at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and a presenter of the market economy radio programme. He has 25 years of experience and an MA in business management.

Ahmed bin Saeed Kshoob

Abdullah bin Said Al Sheily


He holds a Bachelor degree in Arabic Language and Literature from Sultan Qaboos University. He works as the news director of the Sultanate of Oman TV and he is also the announcer of political and economic programmes in the same entity. Al Sheily has eleven years of experience in preparing and delivering programmes most notably the Economic Vision.

Abdullah bin Said Al Sheily

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Miss Iman bint Safi Al Huraibi

Miss Iman bint Safi Al Huraibi


A human resources specialist at Sultan Qaboos School (10-1) Diwan of Royal court. She has 5 years experience in media and public relations. She works as a Media and Public Relations Officer at Dhofar University. She obtained her BA in English Language and Literature from Sultan Qaboos University, and currently she is pursuing her higher education in English Pedagogy.

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Names of participants in Al Roya Business Award

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A. Al Roya Award for the Government Sector


1. Oman Medical Specialty Board (OMSB) (Omani Medical Simulation Centre ) It was established as the first Omani medical simulation centre to support all types of educational and medical institutions, public and private hospitals in addition to physicians under training. It provides training opportunities on the latest medical simulation systems for physicians particularly the specialties with high risk such as emergency medicine and intensive care units, surgeons, gynaecologists and delivery specialists in a simulative environment that reflects the real role of a physician in such specialties under critical situations without endangering the lives of patients. The importance of the centre relies on providing educational opportunities on advanced medical training for physicians with specialties on specialties particularly emergency medicine. Moreover, it has an importance in the strategy adopted by the council to provide a virtual environment that is the closest to the real environment which will eventually enhance the medical services rendered in the Sultanate . 2. Capital Market Authority Festival for Orphans This project aims at buying shares in favor of orphaned children and involving them in the economical transactions as well as establishing the investment culture in the orphaned youth. This project was executed in a partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and Muscat Clearing & Depository Company. Moreover, the CMA participates with other financial institutions in organizing the stock market. The most important objectives of the Capital Market Authority are supervising the sales and purchases of stocks, working on establishing fair standards of pricing, safety of procedures, settlement of rights and commitments and other issues. 3. Majan Electricity Company (the Green Building) The green building, of Majan Electricity Company is considered as an ecofriendly building in which it uses more than 80% of high quality glass installed at the front side of the building in which no heat will permeate through the glass to the offices inside. It is worth mentioning that Majan Electricity Company distributes and supplies electricity to its areas of operation such as the northern Batinah Region, Al Burami Governorate and Al Dhahirah Governorate.

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B. Al Roya Award for Private Sector


1. International Financial Services It was founded in March 1989 and provides financial intermediary service for stocks issued at the Capital Market Authority in addition to financial consultation services for its clients. 2. Al Mamlaka for Organizing Exhibitions (Muscat Bride Exhibition) The exhibition aims to display an integrated show for the latest fashion designs and companies providing wedding parties services. The exhibition attracts more than 100 experts and service providers to display their products in addition to other central stores specialized in providing all brides and bridegrooms needs in general for and women in particular. The exhibition showcased a number of talented designers specializing in designing traditional Omani dresses. This company is one of the pioneering companies in the filed of organizing inspired exhibitions in the Sultanate in cooperation with small and medium companies. Some of the most important achievements of this company is the training of the Omani youth and selecting qualified persons as well as supporting small and medium companies. 3. Al Nimr International for Exhibition Organization (1st Oman Exhibition for Basic Infrastructure) It is one of the pioneering exhibition organizing companies in Oman comprising an enthusiastic team of young, experienced and dynamic professionals, who have the passion and requisite skills to organize high-profile events for prestigious exhibitors and clientele. The exhibition focuses on paving the way for the local and international companies to present their services and products for their clients, stakeholders intending to invest in the construction and contracting sector in the Sultanate. Furthermore, the exhibition enables individuals and the Association to get acquainted to products of local and international companies and to have an idea about the job opportunities in this sector as well as getting products with competitive prices. The exhibition includes a group of environmental conservation projects such as recycling papers and renewable energy. Of the most prominent exhibitions organized by Al Nimr is the 1st Oman Basic Infrastructure Exhibition, and also Media and Advertisement Exhibition, Oman Medical Conference and Exhibition, Sport and Luxurious Cars Exhibition and an Indian Real Estate Exhibition.

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4. Brshutis for Media and Digital Art Brshutis was founded in 2008 by two young Omani entrepreneurs holding both academic and vocational certificates in the field of Business Management and Digital Media. Brshutis is a company specializing in the visual and photographic imaging (video), film industry, media coverage, digital production, 3D animation, graphic designing and audio production. The company is based in Muscat and has established a new branch in Qatar in 2011. It contributed with its expertise to the implementation of a number of social awareness campaigns for a number of social institutions, governmental civil and private companies. It contributed to the development of advertisement and media sectors in the Sultanate through its contributions and actions implemented collaboratively with a number of college and university students in addition to holding a number of training courses in fields related to media in an attempt to qualify students for the labor market.

C. Al Roya Award for Small and Medium Enterprises


1. Azurd Coast for Trading (Sahil Azurd for Trading ) A technical company specialized in supplying and installing luxurious products and front decorations of buildings (natural stones, marble, proofing materials and wooden floors) Omanization ratio in this company is 50%. 2. Mohamed bin Hamdoon Al Balushi Establishment A car washing station using jet steam power. This project contributed to providing a large number of employment opportunities and in the developing process through the Omani youth for creating new ideas for small and medium projects. The staff of this company is working on developing the project, using new technology and adopting environmental sustainability practices. 3. Sanad Center for Smart Cards It provides smart cards services for dwellers of Ibra Wilayaat in Al Sharqiaya region. It also provides a number of services such as typing and follow up procedures. 4. Ahmed bin Hamdoon Al Bablushi One of the Sanad service centers specialized in providing a range of services such as typing marriage forms for expatriates and printing the form of the contract of

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employment. It is also authorized to provide other services such as typing work permits forms, labor cards, visa applications, civil status forms and medical examination forms for the expatriates as well as collecting electricity, water and telephone bills, sales of mobile scratch cards and SIM Cards, color printing, photocopying, imaging, digital copying. It is characterized by an innovative work management as well as a creative way of dealing with clients and providing services. 5. Suleiman bin Esaa Al Amry Establishment One of the Sanad service centers specialized in providing a range of services such as typing the marriage forms for expatriates and printing the form of the contract of employment. It is also authorized to provide other services such as typing work permits forms, labor cards, visa applications, civil status forms and medical examination forms for the expatriates as well as collecting electricity water and telephone bills, sales of mobile scratch cards, SIM cards, color printing, photocopying, imaging and digital copying. 6. Bushra Al Muna Establishment for Perfume and Incense The company has 8 years experience in perfume and incense production. The company represented by its staff is working on promoting the products of productive families. During the last year it established a welfare exhibition for productive families as well as an exhibition for female entrepreneurs for a period of one month with a participation of more than 70 female entrepreneurs. The profits of the exhibition was dedicated for the benefit of the National Association for Cancer. The company established a welfare ceremony during Salalah Tourism Festival 2011. 7. Alkaf Al Arabya( Alkaf Arabic Enterprises ) It is specialized in supplying and installing tents and nomad tents. The exclusiveness of this project is that it provides a number of employment opportunities for Omani youth using materials from the local environment for creating the products of the project such as nomad tents and tents. Furthermore, the project takes into consideration the sustainability considerations through the diversification of future products and ideas .

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Al Roya Award for Individual Enterprises D. Al Roya Award for Individual Projects
Isihak bin Hilal Al Shiryani It provides consultation, managerial and financial services as well as providing economic feasibility studies for new and emerging enterprises which include small and medium enterprises. The main objective of the project is familiarising the clients with the mechanism of scientific researching, human resources management, incentives, strategies management, questionnaires building, investing the natural resources, sales and marketing processes as well as providing new entrepreneurs with statistics about the market and population at the project site. My project has contributed to supporting a large number of entrepreneurs by knowing how to start their buisness properly. Therefore, I have built a database of clients who implemented large projects (such as Wahat Al Osra Family Oasis at Bahla valued approx. 400.000/- OMR and still this project is in operation in the proper way. The project has attained a number of positive results some of which are establishing the principle of work and self reliance instead of just waiting for welfare subsidies from others, teaching young job seekers in the Sultanate using an advanced teaching methodology on the proper way of establishing their own projects and at the same time instructing and training them in a profession that suits them for living. This will help them get ideas for more productive projects as per their working capital such as gas and oil projects where it is rare to find youth in this sector.

1. The Best Economic Governmental Establishment


The Industrial Innovation Centre It is a unique initiative that aims to support industrial projects in the Sultanate and connecting them with the research centers. It aims at building a rich knowledge, culture in the industrial sector and highlighting the benefits of cooperation with the research community at universities, laboratories, institutions and scientific centers. It also aims at encouraging the small and medium enterprises in adopting the scientific research methods and innovation in a pursuit towards developing and expanding its activities. Furthermore, it aims at instructing the academics researchers on how to overcome industrial and commercial challenges and finding solution in a scientific method in conformity with the pioneering ideas of the concerned institutions. Moreover,

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it aims at encouraging small and medium-sized organizations to adopt research and innovation tools to develop their scope of work and provide academic researchers with opportunities to deal with and solve industrial and commercial problems and challenges. Also, it aims at providing a platform for exchanging ideas and communication between innovative entrepreneurs and investors to compete with other countries that are advanced in the industrial sector and to minimize the importation of industrial products. 2. The Best Business Figure for 2011 Individual Government Sector Sheikh Salah bin Hilal Al Mowaly Director General of the General Directorate for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Sheikh Salah obtained a Masters degree in International Business in 2001 from the School of Business Administration, Sheffield University, UK, and a BA degree in Business Administration in 1996 from Arkansas State University, USA. Sheikh Salah Al Mowaly has made a number of contributions to the establishment of the Directorate and the development of its strategy until 2013. He established annually a well reputed conference exhibition for small and medium enterprises. He developed a strategic cooperation on the management of small business projects in the United States to transfer their expertise and experiences in the development policies to develop small and medium enterprises and its programs in the Sultanate of Oman. The development of strategic partnerships with international agencies in India, Malaysia, Korea and Turkey, which can provide technical assistance to strengthen the small and medium enterprises sector in the Sultanate of Oman. A number of Memoranda of Understanding have been signed with such entities to develop the public and private sectors and to partnership with various sectors including financial institutions, Chamber of Commerce and Industry and businessmen to develop specific programs for the development of small and medium enterprises in the Sultanate of Oman. Designing an intensive training programme to train Omani businessmen to be implemented by a team from the Directorate. Leading the team of the Directorate in the preparation and publication of manuals aimed at disseminating knowledge, entrepreneurial culture and information to the business. He participated in numerous conferences, courses and workshops locally, regionally and internationally. Moreover, he delivered many lectures in a number of forums and various media programmes.

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3.The Best Economic Establishment Private Sector Sohar Aluminum was established in September 2004. Its real productive capacity started in February 2009. Since its inception, it focused on many important issues such as Omanization which recently reached 70% of its national work force. This percentage is the supporting work force of the company. Within this framework, the company has implemented many projects which provide 2 million dollars of employment opportunities for Omani youth per year for the purpose of supporting the new Omani generation. The company has also established Sohar Aluminum Training Center to train Omani nationals. Aluminum Sohar is proud of the contribution it makes to the local community it operates in. This strategy can be best displayed through its mission of achieving a good fortune, affluence and income growth for Al Batina region. Aluminum Sohar yearly dedicates 1.5% of shareholders profits for the social responsibility programs. It is expected that the social responsibility programmes provided by the company this year will have a wider effect on the community through the synergic efforts of Sohar Aluminium, Vale and ORPIC some of the largest companies in the governorate, to launch a range of social responsibility programmes under an agreement on an investment project including educational, medical, health and environmental services projects in addition to developing the infrastructure of the local community. 4. The Best Business Figure Banking Sector Mr. Abdel Gader Asklaan The CEO of Oman Arab Bank in the Sultanate of Oman, started his career as an accountant with a monthly salary of only $ 4o/. finally he managed bank assets of $ 2.2 billion dollars. His experience includes banking in Jordan, Yemen, United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate. Abdel Gader did not have any interest in banking and when he graduated from Al Najah College, Jordan in 1956 he was seriously planning to join the Aviation College to become a pilot but instead applied to the Arab Bank in Amman as an accountant in 1957. He remained in the Arab Bank for 9 months and was then assigned to manage the bank branch in Yemen, and continued there from 1958 to 1969. Later he became the branch manager in the Arab Bank in Ras Al Khaimah in 1970, and in 1973 he was appointed branch manager of the Arab Bank in the Sultanate of

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Oman. Arab Bank started its banking activity in the Sultanate starting with 50 million OMR, and now the bank assets value more than $ 2.2 billion. The financial activity of the bank concentrates on joint stock companies and on providing facilitates for contractors. 5. The Best Business figure the Vocational Association Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Hamad al-Harthy. Chairman of Omani Economic Association, an economic expert and consultant. He holds a BA in Business Administration and Accounting from the United States of America (1979), and gained his Masters Degree in Economics from the United States of America in 1981. He has participated in the work of several government committees, seminars and conferences held in various countries around the world. He holds the Medal of Civil Service Appreciation - first class (1990). He is the Author of the Oman Encyclopedia (his vast and far ranging credentials were mentioned earlier). 6. The Best Business figure Businessmen Yusuf bin Yaqub bin Nasser Al Busaidi Chairman of the Entrepreneurs Forum at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Oman during the period (20072010). The Forum was established to be a platform for young citizens in the Sultanate, for businessmen and businesswomen as well as ones who are interested in the world of entrepreneurship. The Forum implemented a range of activities focusing on adopting ideas of business entrepreneurs, synergizing their efforts and work on improving their success opportunities through outstanding programmes and activities. In cooperation with government agencies and private sector institutions, the committee established the Exhibition and Conference for Small and Medium Enterprises during the period from 16 to 18 February 2009, and has been held annually since that time. The Forum held a number of meetings for entrepreneurs on a quarterly basis in which four meetings were held at the main center of the Chamber in the Governorate of Muscat in 2010. He has his BA in Business Administration from the University of St. Louis Missouri, United States, as well as a Masters degree in from Majan University College with association with Bedfordshire University, UK.
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7. The Best Business Figure - Businesswomen Sharifa bint Musallam Alburami She is a business entrepreneur focusing on developing small and medium enterprises and promoting a culture of entrepreneurship. She has 11 years of practical experience in the public and private sectors in the Sultanate and the United Kingdom. She holds a BA degree with distinguished honours and graduated in medical science from the University of Portsmouth, UK. She is specialized in Total Quality Management Systems. Moreover, she is an expert the systems of Quality Assessment, accredited by the South Africa National Accreditation Systems (SANAS). Currently she is the Managing Partner of Al Jazeera Global Services and Investment, in addition to being a business consultant and certified trainer for the Cisco Institute of Entrepreneurship (USA). She also has a social and voluntary activity in the civil association represented in various social initiatives and panel discussions and the debate about empowering women and the youth in the community. She was elected to the post of Vice-Chairperson of the Womens Association in Muscat, Oman (2010-2012), and she is also a member of the Female Entrepreneurs Forum in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Oman. Her current efforts are devoted solely to directing and stimulating local entrepreneurs and to providing advice and ways of developing the sector of small and medium enterprises in addition to participating in various conferences, workshops and seminars in the field of business management and capacity building. 8. Al Roya Award for the Best Civil Association Establishment The Omani Association for Farmers of Al Batinah Governorate (My Product Project) My Product Project was established and implemented by the Omani Association for Farmers of Al Batinah Governorate with cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and Tourism Development. The project aims at improving the income of a number of productive families in the Al Batinah region and enhancing the output of its commercial project on the long run. This initiative aims to support the productive activities practised by the participating families such as beekeeping, date products, vegetables, fruit, eggs to be exhibited and sold in the market. It is considered as clear cut evidence of the close cooperation that we seek to establish between the public and private

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sectors to help the community through supporting rural woman activities. The aspect of this initiative is represented by providing support for farmers to enhance the presence of their projects in the local market .This can be attained through training them on the effective packaging and marketing techniques. The profits of this project will be totally granted to the participating families. The project was implemented in 7 phases through a thorough and in- depth feasibility study and selecting the appropriate products, the participating families, the nature of activities, training on packaging and marketing techniques, work and financial management. The preparation phases also included a field visit by a number of the Association members and farmers of Al Batinah to the farms to evaluate the volume of work and estimating the capacity of the project. The families responded actively through their determination to manage their own living resources by themselves. This association was founded in 6 December 2005 and is based in Al Swaiq Wilayaat. Since its inception, the association had clear cut objectives of instructing the farmers on adopting new farming techniques and supplying cutting edge farming equipment as well as environmental friendly pesticides to be used by the participating families. The association also worked on communicating with farming experts and specialists. The Ministry of Agriculture had supported in this regard through providing information and expertise . The association helped in promoting the products through participating in the exhibitions, seminars and researches in and outside the Sultanate some of which are the Sustainable Development Seminar for the Agricultural Sector and the organization of the labor market in which the association participated in presenting a research and exhibiting a number of vegetables at the exhibition. 9. The Best Economic Programme Economic Media Sector Economic Vision Programme Prepared by Mr. Abdullah bin Saeed Al Sheily and edited by Mohamed Al Jabry, the Economic Vision Programme is one of the oldest live dialogues presented at Oman TV. It had been broadcasted over the past 11 years. The programme is presented in TV serials presented every Saturday night at 9pm in which it hosts an elite of experts, officials, academics and stakeholders to discuss the economic issues and activities related to economic development in the Sultanate as well as other economic issues at regional and international levels. The programmes have attracted a large number of audiences interested in the economic issues. The programme provides supporting information in the form of headlines and points discussed in the programme subtitled in the TV banner.

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General Supervisor Hatim bin Hamad Al Taie Conceptualised and prepared by Iman bint Al Safi Al Huraibi Execution and follow up Mr. Alfadel Abass Editorial Manager Anne Bouji Manager of Books and Publication Department Dhian Chand Studio Manager & Production Ali Al Ajmi Senior Economic Editor Fatima Abu Hosher Human Resources Assistant Manager Eng. Mohamed Draaz IT Manager Jameela Al Taie Secretary to the Editorin -Chief Designed by Rahma bint Yousif Al Balushi Salha bint Yousif Al Balushi Photographer Rashid Al Kindi

To reach us
Tel: 24479888 Fax: 24479889 info@alroya.info www.alroya.info www.alroya.info

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