Pact inked for development of Omani SMEs

Muscat: Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) and Business Gateways International (BGI), which manages IT strategic platforms in Oman, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) aimed at providing joint support and promoting the growth of Omani SMEs by taking advantage of the available opportunities related to the In-Country Value on the Joint Supplier Registration System (JSRS) in Oman and supporting the expansion of these businesses in global markets.

JSRS is an In-Country Value platform to certify suppliers and utilise their services, initiated by the Oman Ministry of Energy and Minerals who launched JSRS on www.businessgateways.com. JSRS connects the community of buyers, which include all oil & gas operating companies in the energy sector and many large institutions and companies from other sectors - with thousands of certified suppliers on JSRS Certified Suppliers Network (CSN), to source and award procurement-related opportunities with specific emphasis on SME obligation contracts and sub-contracts to Omani SMEs.

JSRS CSN includes many Omani service providers, including SMEs, companies approved by Riyada, Local Community Contractors (LCCs) and large corporates in addition to international companies from more than 100 countries that benefit from the procurement opportunities offered by the JSRS Buyers Community.

Based on this MoC, BGI will implement a special OCCI SME platform for Omani SMEs registered with OCCI on JSRS, integrate the OCCI SME Committee on JSRS and provide business-related support services exclusively to JSRS certified SMEs through the OCCI SME platform.

This MoC is the beginning of a number of new initiatives that will be mutually implemented by OCCI and BGI with a common goal, which is to help SMEs communicate with each other and develop their businesses and services and provide information about OCCI current activities to those who are registered on the OCCI SME platform.

OCCI recommends that all Omani SMEs register in JSRS and obtain the JSRS Supplier Certification to benefit from the upcoming services that will be offered on the OCCI SME Platform.

OCCI and BGI will soon launch awareness campaigns in all Omani governorates for all OCCI companies and introduce the advantages of the JSRS OCCI SME platform.