OMR180,000 fund for Riyada award winners

Muscat: Winners of the 4th edition of an Entrepreneurship Award will share a prize fund of OMR180,000, according to The Public Authority for SME development (Riyada).
The main committee of the Entrepreneurship award (Riyada) has revealed the details of the prestigious competition - organised by Riyada in collaboration with Omantel- at an event at the Supreme Council for Planning hosted by Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Sarmi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Higher Education and Riyada Board Member
The fourth edition sees an increase in the prizes awarded to the sub-category winners to a total of OMR180,000, divided into OMR87,000 as cash awards and OMR93,000 for support programmes aimed at developing the skills and knowledge of the winners.
The award’s title “Competition and Innovation” underlines its aim of promoting these two aspects as well as developing the performance and capacities of Small and Medium Enterprises.
It also sets out to support and enhance a culture of entrepreneurship in local communities, providing a suitable environment for networking, acknowledging the people and institutions helping to support entrepreneurs and the SMEs sector, and developing these sectors to be effective contributors to nationalising jobs.
Tariq bin Sulaiman Al Farsi, Chief Executive Officer of Al Raffd Fund and Chairman of the Entrepreneurship Award Committee said, “Since the launch of the award in 2014, it has contributed to the excellent performance of the winning entrepreneurs and SMEs as a result of the support programs offered, and the winners` insistence on continued development.”
“Throughout the last three editions, this award has contributed to the promotion of SMEs in Oman and entrepreneurship in general, further improving a business environment that is based on competition and innovation.“
“Today, we announce the fourth edition to continue the aim of supporting the growth of our national economy. This edition of the award emphasizes the significance of quality by assessing participants through standards approved by the European Foundation for Quality Management.”
Main categories
The main categories of this year’s Entrepreneurship Award are Best Entrepreneur, Best Home Business, Best Small Business, Best Micro Business, and Best Medium Business and Best Support Award which includes - Best Financial Support, Best Support from a Large Company, Best Support from a Government Institution, Best Educational Initiative, Best Media Initiative, and Best Development Initiative.