OMR38 million in tenders awarded to SMEs in Oman

Muscat: The government institutions awarded OMR38 million tenders and procurement to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) registered in Riyada in 2019, representing 6.74 per cent of the total spending in government tenders and procurement that were executed in 2019. The share of the institutions that obtained the "Entrepreneur Card for fully owned projects by Omani nationals was OMR16 million.
The government tenders and procurement data awarded to SMEs registered in Riyada in 2019, according to the analysis of data received from the Ministry of Finance, revealed that 1,714 SMEs registered in Riyada benefited from government tenders and procurement, including 705 of the SMEs holding a Riyada Entrepreneur Card.
On the other hand, the same data showed that Riyada is the highest awarding government agency to small and medium enterprises registered in Riyada, compared to the total amounts of tenders and procurement.
Riyada percentage amounted to 47.22 per cent of the total work that was awarded in 2019, followed by the Supreme Committee for National Day Celebrations with 33.02 per cent, the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources with 25.71 per cent, the National Records and Archives Authority with 25.55 per cent, Al Raffd Fund with 22.36 per cent, and the Omani Academic Accreditation Authority with 20.33 per cent, then other government agencies in varying proportions.
Halima bint Rashid Al Zaria, Acting CEO of Riyada said, "The data of 20 government institutions from government procurement and tenders awarded to small and medium enterprises in 2019 indicate the keenness of a large number of those authorities to increase their support for small and medium enterprises and they deserve our thanks and appreciation for giving awarding priority out of their belief in the role of the Omani youth and their ability to carry out business and support the national economy."
Al Zeria added that the awarding percentage to SMEs in 2019 available from the Ministry of Finance - increased by 4.24 per cent in 2018, stressing that the awarding percentage to SMEs does not include subcontracting for large companies that implement government projects and thus awarding by some institutions may be higher than shown in the provided data.