PDO joins hands with Riyada to train entrepreneurs

Muscat: Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has conducted a training workshop for entrepreneurs and small business owners to improve their sales performance, marketing and customer service.
The company joined forces with Riyada, the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, to coach 60 of its members in new ways to be more profitable and productive.
The three-day workshop, provided by instructors from the National Training Institute at Riyada’s headquarters in Ghala, also offered a platform for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to share experience, knowledge and best practice with each other.
“Like Riyada, PDO believes that a thriving small business sector is essential to delivering more jobs and prosperity for Oman,” said Abdul Amir Abdul Hussein Al Ajmi, PDO external affairs and value creation director.
“The aim of the workshop was to help the participants become better at marketing their products and services and engage more effectively with their customers. It is part of package of measures we are deploying to develop the capacity of Omani businesses so that they can compete successfully both at home and abroad.
“It is important that the Sultanate’s economy diversifies, and vibrant and dynamic SMEs can play a major role in driving that change.”
The workshop was supported by PDO’s national objectives programme and was initiated after the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Riyada aimed at strengthening co-operation and collaboration between the two sides on training, business advice and knowledge exchange to help SMEs — firms with up to 100 employees — operate more successfully.
“Our ultimate objective is to provide solid support to SMEs in order to nurture the entrepreneurial culture in the Sultanate and enhance their contribution to the socio-economic development of the country,” said Khalid AlSafi Al Haraibi, deputy chief executive officer of Riyada.
“We thank our partners at PDO for their outstanding ongoing support in helping us to reach this aim and look forward to working with them in the future on this noble cause,” he adeed.
Last year, PDO awarded contracts worth more than S3.7 billion with nationally registered companies and offered a range of financial, operational, technical and corporate governance support to SMEs. Two business awareness workshops were held to support local vendor development and two others were staged to help local companies which had failed in previous bids for PDO contracts.