Daleel Petroleum mentorship programme to support small and medium enterprises

Muscat: Daleel Petroleum’s new mentorship programme will help support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the oil and gas sector, said a senior official.
“We are encouraging all companies to have these programmes to help SMEs, and this is an important initiative, especially talking about the oil and gas sector which is the biggest sector in Oman,” Khalifa Al Abri, chief executive officer of the Public Authority for SME Development (riyada), told Times of Oman.
“There are large opportunities for SMEs to be part of the sector and it is important to build the capacity and also to enhance their ability to be part of this sector, and this programme will help the SMEs do that,” he said on the sidelines of an event held on Monday to announce Daleel Petroleum’s new programme.
Al Abri also said that riyada has a mentorship programme which covers various sectors to help SMEs in Oman.
Contribution
In a speech at the event, Fahmy Al Musharfy, chief planning officer at Daleel Petroleum, one of the leading oil producing companies in the Sultanate, said that the company has always been committed to supporting SMEs to contribute to the country’s prosperity in line with the government’s efforts.
He said that the new programme will help upgrade the quality and raise the standards of SMEs and will help enhance their knowledge and skills.
According to Daleel Petroleum, the new mentorship programme, which is expected to start in February, will match Omani-owned and operated SMEs with local Omani and expatriate professionals in a mentoring relationship.
Application
Ideal SME mentee companies will be those presently operating in the oil and gas industry and those in other industries which require similar business management practices. These mentor relationships will be closely monitored to ensure that appropriate objectives are agreed to at the beginning and are tracked throughout the 12 months of the relationship.
With regard to the mentors, qualified local mentors will make a number of commitments such as dedicating 3 to 5 hours per month to mentee meetings (face-to-face, via email, and via the telephone) for a period of 12 months.
Applications are open for both mentees and mentors. Once qualified mentors and mentees are accepted, they will be matched into mentor relationships based on the needs of the mentees and the strengths of the mentors.
Consultancy
Daleel Petroleum has engaged Inspired Solutions, an Oman-based SME consultancy, to manage the SME mentoring relationships.
William R. Crew, chief executive officer of Inspired Solutions, said that the initiative will help enhance the capabilities and stability of the Omani SMEs in this project.
In addition, Azhar Al Barwani, head of In-Country Value (ICV) at Daleel Petroleum, said that in the light of lower oil prices, ICV becomes all the more important as its helps sustain the economy.
ICV will be given an emphasis regardless of the oil prices, she noted.