Symposium on Oman economy held in Arizona State University

Washington: The Sultan Qaboos Cultural Centre in Washington DC, in coordination with Arizona State University, organised its annual symposium on the Sultanate, entitled “Promoting Economic Development through Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Models for Oman and the United States.”
The event was held in the city of Phoenix, in the State of Arizona.
The participants from the Sultanate, led by Dr. Ali bin Mas’oud Al Sunaidi, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Riyada), Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Raffd Fund, paid a field visit, as part of the first day programme, to several entrepreneurship-specialised institutions in Phoenix.
Thunderbird School of Global Management hosted the Minister of Commerce and Industry and the Sultanate’s Ambassador to the United States in a seminar on the Sultanate during which many aspects related to the Omani economy were addressed. The seminar was attended by a large number of specialists, academics and students.
At the evening, the Centre hosted a dinner where the Minister of Commerce and Industry talked about the Omani economy, the role of entrepreneurship in its development and the promotion of public-private partnerships. The dinner was attended by Arizona government officials, businessmen and private sector officials in Phoenix and neighbouring cities.
The second day programme included holding a seminar at the Arizona State University. The seminar consisted of four sessions focusing on “Public-Private Partnerships towards a Circular Economy,” “The Advancing Industry,” “Developing a Dynamic Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship” and “Development of Digital Market New Industries”.
Eleven speakers from the US and five speakers from the Sultanate, two of them representing government entities involved in entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises supporting them took part in the session, namely, Dr. Ahmed bin Mohsen Al Ghassani, CEO of the Public Authority for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises, and Malak bint Ahmed Al Shibanyah, Director General of the National Business Center at Knowledge Oasis Muscat, in addition to three Omani entrepreneurs, namely Dr. Amal bint Rashed Al Abraweyah, CEO of National Luban Products Company (Oliban), Zuwaina bint Sultan Al Rashidiya, Founder and CEO of Dar Al Herfya and Faris bin Khamis Al Balushi, Founder and CEO of Innovation Factory for Research and Development.