Zubair SEC signs on collaboration with Shell Intilaaqah in support of Omani entrepreneurship
Sep 22, 2014
Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shell Intilaaqah that aims at collaboratively extending support to Omani entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses in the Sultanate.
The MoU was signed at The Zubair Corporation headquarter in Athaiba by Mr C S Badrinath, CEO of The Zubair Corporation, and Mr Chris Breeze, Shell Country Chairman in Oman, with the attendance of top management executives from both sides.
According to the MoU, a framework of collaboration between both parties will aim at training and coaching young entrepreneurs to start up their own businesses within the Sultanate. Shell will provide training entrepreneurs through its Intilaaqah Entrepreneur Development Programme (IEDP) and introduce graduates of the programme to Zubair SEC that will undertake in return to provide them with the required business advisory and support services,including but not limited to management consulting, mentorship, educational clinics, relevant research, and coordination of various networking opportunities.
Shell will also engage Zubair SEC as a member of the Intilaaqah IEDP Panel for assessing its trainees before graduation and decide on the graduates to become members at Zubair SEC and benefit from the extended business advisory services.
Zubair SEC will closely monitor this framework of graduates support to assess progress towards the completion of key results, based on quality criteria and methods to be set by Shell Intilaaqah and Zubair SEC. The Centre will also continuously identify challenges and risks faced by graduates and facilitate solutions and progress mechanisms to be implemented with Shell Intilaaqah.
Zubair SEC is one of the initiatives which emanated from The Zubair Corporation’s Social Responsibility strategic vision towards the Omani society. The vision reflects the corporation’s belief in the importance of small enterprises (SEs) in enhancing the national economy and contributing to sustainable socio-economic development. The centre comprises a team of socially engaged and business savvy advisors who put all effort to contribute to leveraging the Omani community through equipping and enabling entrepreneurs and start-ups to grow with their businesses in a sustainable and responsible manner. Since its launch in 2013, Zubair SEC has joined to its membership 200 small businesses and around 220 entrepreneurs from all sectors of the economy to benefit from its services and support.
This partnership with Shell Intilaaqah marks an important milestone for Zubair SEC as the first MoU the Centre signs with the Oil and Gas sector towards empowering and supporting Omani entrepreneurs, and we will put all effort to bring best added value to Intilaaqah graduates who will join Zubair SEC and aim at becoming more business savvy and successful entrepreneurs. We also believe that while the Oil and Gas sector has been putting many efforts in the scope of the In Country Value (ICV) initiative, collaboration with other SME-focused programmes in the Sultanate, like Zubair SEC, would help capitalize on the potential within ICV as the support efforts achieved by such centres as ours who are in the field on day-to-day basis with entrepreneurs, living their businesses and challenges, would bring tremendous insight and value to the desired SME suppliers that could benefit from the ICV momentum.
Mr C S Badrinath, CEO of The Zubair Corporation
We are delighted to be partnering with the Zubair Small Enterprise Centre on a first of its kind agreement for Shell-Intilaaqah Oman. Having local strategic partnerships such as the one we are celebrating today enables Intilaaqah’s entrepreneurs to expand upon their Intilaaqah Entrepreneur Development Programme training and benefit from mentee-mentor programmes, educational workshops and networking sessions”. He added “We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Zubair SEC for its enthusiasm to form part of the Intilaaqah IEDP assessment panel and look forward to working together to help Oman’s most promising entrepreneurs thrive.
Mr Chris Breeze, Shell Country Chairman in Oman
About Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC)
Established in June 2013, the Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC) is one of the initiatives which emanated from The Zubair Corporation’s Social Responsibility strategic vision towards the Omani society. The vision reflects the corporation’s belief in the importance of small enterprises (SEs) in enhancing the national economy and contributing to sustainable socio-economic development. The centre extends business mentorship and guidance to Oman’s promising member entrepreneurs as well as financial support to selected entrepreneurs every year, to help them succeed and grow in a sustainable manner.
For more information on Zubair SEC, please contact the Communications Office at info@zubairsec.org
About Shell-Intilaaqah
The Intilaaqah programme is part of Shell’s global LiveWire initiative, first launched in 1982 to address youth unemployment in Scotland. Since its inception, the program has grown rapidly to become one of the industry's largest organisations for young entrepreneurs, with a social network of more than 100,000 members. The Intilaaqah programme has been a breakthrough in more than 8 countries in the Middle East and continues to provide support and guidance to young entrepreneurs. Oman was the first country to launch the Shell Intilaaqah programme in 1995. In 2013, the global Intilaaqah programme trained over 10,000 individuals.
For media enquiries:
Ms. Salima Al-Masroori
Media Relations Manager, Shell Development Oman
Email: S.Al-Masroori@shell.com
Notes to Editors:
ABOUT SHELL IN OMAN
Shell is active in Oman across the oil and gas industry and is involved in joint venture and independent activities ranging from research and development, exploration and production to trading and retail. Shell also implements extensive social investment programmes that contribute to the sustainable development of the country.
Shell Development Oman LLC provides a central point for co-ordination of all Shell activities and interests in the Sultanate of Oman.
A dedicated Shell Representative office was established in 2002, creating for the first time in Oman a Shell identity independent from the different joint venture companies in which Shell has been proud to participate over many years.
Led by the Shell County Chairman for Oman, the Representative Office undertook the dual role of representing Shell and acted as a long-standing corporate citizen of the Sultanate by providing a conduit for a broad range of social investment schemes, including the successful Intilaaqah programme.
The broad range of activities undertaken by the office from social investment through to learning and technology sharing continually grew and to enable Shell to further expand its efforts to support the development objectives of the Sultanate, the Representative Office was transitioned to a limited liability company on 1 March 2008. This change continues to show our long-term commitment to the sustainable development of Oman.
Shell Development Oman LLC continues the dual role of representing Shell and contributing to the sustainable development of Oman (as the previous Representative Office did).
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