Muscat: In line with its strategy for social responsibility and focus on empowering Omani youth, Mitsui E&P Middle East has signed a memorandum of understanding with Outward Bound Oman to collaborate on enhancing youth skills and opening new opportunities through outdoor experiential learning courses.

Mitsui E&P Middle East prioritises community welfare, particularly youth empowerment. This collaboration aims to sponsor participants in the "Next Generation" programme, implemented by Outward Bound Oman in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth. The programme focuses on enhancing youth life skills through immersive outdoor learning experiences that includes a variety of enriching activities and discussions, in line with Oman Vision 2040, fundamental job skills, professional ethics, and resilience in different environments. The programme targets university students, and job seekers from various provinces of the Sultanate.

Richard Lewis, Executive Director of Outward Bound Oman, stated, “The corporate community plays a crucial role in the success of Outward Bound in Oman by funding Omani youth through their social investment programmes to participate in Outward Bound training courses. These courses aim to develop key life skills such as resilience. The support from Mitsui E&P Middle East will provide young people with an extraordinary opportunity to enhance their self-esteem and ability to cope with uncertainty and challenges.”

Outward Bound Oman was established in the Sultanate in 2009 by founding partners Dentons, Shell, and Sheikh Suhail Bahwan, before receiving ministerial decree in 2014 to formalise its establishment under the Ministry of Social Development. The institution leverages Oman's mountainous, desert, and marine environments as sources of inspiration for education. To date, the institution has trained over 26,000 participants from within and outside the Sultanate, including employees, youth job seekers, school students, individuals with special needs, and others.