Thursday 28 / November / 2024
Muscat: The Sultanate’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai, represented by Oman’s pavilion, which is under the supervision of the Sultanate’s General Commission to Expo 2020 Dubai is a great opportunity to be grabbed and built on, said a number of officials and experts who also pointed to that the Sultanate’s participation would provide the opportunity for showcasing the Omani products to a big number of expected visitors to Expo 2020 Dubai.
They also said that the products of minor industrialists and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would have their share in this opportunity as many such products would be among the items on display at the Frankincense Store at the Sultanate’s pavilion during the six months’ term of the expo, which would kick off on October 1, 2021 to end of March 2022.
The above statements were part of the workshop held, last Sunday, via videoconferencing under the name (the Road to Expo 2020 Dubai) as part of the educational campaign for minor industrialists, wherein the participants discussed a number of pillars related to the Sultanate’s participation in this international event and the project on development of Omani products, worldwide (the Road to Expo 2020 Dubai).
Mohsin bin Khamis Al Balushi, Advisor of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and investment Promotion and the Sultanate’s Commissioner General to the Sultanate in Expo 2020 Dubai said that the COVID-19 pandemic has cast a shadow over many sectors, which has led to postponement of the launch of Expo 2020 Dubai for one year.
The decision to postpone the launch of Expo 2020 Dubai was taken in May 2020 by the concerned official, organising and supervisory entities, he added.
He said that the United Arab Emirates has made appreciable investments in hosting this global event to generate economic achievements.
He said that a number of youths have taken part in the preparations to the participation in Expo 2020 Dubai along with SMEs.
Hamad bin Salim Al Harthi, Head of Finance of SMEs and Portfolio Management at Oman Development Bank (ODB) spoke on the role of ODB in transforming a number of domestic and crafts projects into manufacturing units or small and medium factories.
He also discussed the soft recovery strategy for economy under COVID-19 pandemic conditions and the role of the bank in the support of the value added chain for producers and industrialists.
He also responded to a number of enquiries on the necessity for finance in development of projects and the role of finance institutions in the support of entrepreneurs and industrialists.
“The Sultanate’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai is a great opportunity to be built on” said Dr Abdullah Al Mahrouqi, CEO of Industrial Innovation Centre. He also pointed to the significance of selling the products in the form of manufactured products and not as raw materials. He also pointed to fish products in some countries which amounted to 150 products.
Nada Bassam, Taiseer (Oman Trading Platform) the Project Manager on Development of Omani Products (The Road to Expo 2020 Dubai) spoke on the short term and the long term impacts of the campaign on the Knowledge-based economy.
She also praised the role of the sponsors of the campaign.
