Shell Intilaaqah, Riyada pledge to empower entrepreneurs

Business Tuesday 29/May/2018 14:27 PM
By: Times News Service
Shell Intilaaqah, Riyada pledge to empower entrepreneurs

Muscat: Shell Intilaaqah, Oman’s social investment arm of Shell LiveWire International, and the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Riyada) will continue their strategic partnership to support entrepreneurs for an additional three years by signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) that builds on the previous Memorandum of Understanding.
This collaboration aims to continue offering support to entrepreneurs in various areas, including training, mentoring and counselling for an additional three years.
The agreement was signed by Dr Ahmed Al Ghassani, CEO of Riyada, and Chris Breeze, Shell’s Country Chairman in Oman. Through the partnership, Riyada will support Shell Intilaaqah and the start-ups on multiple fronts including the provision of space for entrepreneurs for the Shell Intilaaqah office and programme.
“This partnership brings the local expertise of Riyada with the global expertise of Shell Intilaaqah together in one unique proposition that helps kick-start and propel the journeys of aspiring entrepreneurs. This is a partnership that is geared towards building connections between entrepreneurs, and experienced trainers and mentors to ultimately diversify Oman’s economy,” Al Ghassani said.
“The renewal of our collaboration with Riyada is an essential step in the right direction towards Shell Intilaaqah’s long-standing history of empowering Omani entrepreneurs and SMEs. Riyada and Shell Intilaaqah both share the same objective: of nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit in Oman and making a real impact on our communities,” said Breeze.
Najwa Al Kindi, Director of Shell Intilaaqah Oman, said, “We are committed to creating and developing business leaders. Today, we start the next chapter in our successful collaboration with Riyada in order to continue empowering talent and catalysing an entrepreneurial ecosystem across the Sultanate.”
The Shell Intilaaqah programme is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs, who are between 20 and 35 years of age, and SMEs through all stages of entrepreneurship, starting from generating a business idea and developing a feasibility study and a business plan, to supporting the growth and sustenance of start-ups. The programme involves five stages of modular training, counselling and support tailored to provide aspiring Omani youth with the skill sets required to turn original and feasible ideas into real businesses.