Bank Muscat hosts Najahi Talks online to discuss impact of COVID-19

Roundup Monday 06/July/2020 16:10 PM
By: Times News Service
Bank Muscat hosts Najahi Talks online to discuss impact of COVID-19

Muscat: In line with its commitment to strengthening support to Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), Bank Muscat, the leading financial services provider in Oman recently held its July session of Najahi Talks online.
The monthly knowledge-sharing platform, which is organised by the Retail Enterprises (Najahi) unit of Bank Muscat, hosted HH Sayyid Dr Adham bin Turki Al Said, CEO & Partner, The Firm for Business and Economic Consulting and moderated by Abdullah Al Jufaili, Head, Retail Enterprises, Bank Muscat. The event was hosted on the bank’s official Instagram account and discussed the economic and social impact of COVID-19. The knowledge-sharing event was attended by a large number of entrepreneurs and speakers shared their challenges and strategies to deal with the current situation.
Launched earlier in September 2019, Najahi Talks is a monthly knowledge-sharing platform that is organised by the Retail Enterprises unit of Bank Muscat for the benefit of Omani entrepreneurs across the country. Abdullah Al Jufaili, Head, Retail Enterprises, said that the bank was continuing to successfully forge ahead in its mission to support entrepreneurship by organising special sessions online during this time.
Dr Adham Al Said spoke about the economic and social impacts of the pandemic in the world and on the Sultanate in particular. He discussed at length about the sectors, which have been most affected as well as those which have benefitted from the economic impact of the pandemic. He spoke about the importance of technology and online solutions for the delivery of services by different institutions as well as the government. Dr Adham Al Said stressed on the need to have contingency planning in place as well as the importance of finding alternative mechanisms to continue business operations. He explained that small enterprises were capable of overcoming such crises as they had the advantage of the flexibility and could adapt their operations without necessarily spending huge sums of money in the process. He also added that it was important for budding entrepreneurs to discuss and learn from those with experience. He thanked the bank for organising the session and supporting entrepreneurs in Oman achieve their dreams.
The online webinar was a grand success with many entrepreneurs taking advantage of the knowledge-sharing session to learn new business strategies. It is important to note that Najahi Talks not only facilitates knowledge-sharing but also networking opportunities that can create long-term business opportunities for young Omani entrepreneurs. Those who are interested in participating in upcoming sessions can get more details from the bank’s social media accounts. The event is usually held during the first week of every month.
Importantly, the knowledge-sharing sessions are a follow-up to the various initiatives undertaken by the bank to promote the growth and development of the SME sector in the country. The specially-designed Najahi products mainly include credit facilities without the need for collateral to develop and grow micro and small businesses. Bank Muscat various initiatives to promote SMEs assume importance in the backdrop of the priority accorded by the government to develop the MSME sector in Oman. Najahi Talks is an important part of Bank Muscat’s strategy to develop MSMEs to grow and strengthen Oman’s economy.