Muscat: On Sunday, the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ASMED) held a media briefing to discuss its efforts and indicators for 2023 and outline strategic approaches for 2024.
In formulating its annual plan for 2024, ASMED focused on fostering an entrepreneurial culture, implementing programs to facilitate the regional and global expansion of enterprises, maximizing the benefits of local value-added initiatives, and providing broader and more innovative financing options. Additionally, ASMED is committed to accelerating the digital transformation of its systems, programs, and services.
Halima Rashid Al Zari, Chairperson of ASMED, emphasized the dedication of the authority's teams across Oman's governorates in meeting the aspirations of entrepreneurs in various sectors.
She also highlighted Oman's achievement in the entrepreneurship index, as it secured the 11th position out of 49 participating countries in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report for 2023/2024. This represents a significant improvement of 27 places compared to its ranking in 2022/2023.
She said that Authority will organise an exhibition in March of every year in governorates of Oman, noting that the exhibition will display products of enterprises.
Al Zari said that the SMEs sector in Oman is witnessing progress at a rapid pace. She elaborated: “The number of SMEs registered at ASMED increased by 30 percent by the end of 2023 to reach 135,064, compared to 104,141 in 2022. The number of enterprises holding an entrepreneurship card (Riyada) reached approximately 29,000 by the end of 2023, representing 22% of the total SMEs registered at ASMED.”
Ishaq Khalifa Al Shukaili, Director of the Local Added Value Department at ASMED pointed out that the number of SMEs at various business incubators stands at 103. These enterprises, he said, have managed to provide 382 job opportunities for the Omani youth in various business activities and generated revenue of more than OMR4 million.
He explained that the number of small enterprises whose classification upgraded to medium enterprises during 2023 reached 167, while the number of medium enterprises that grew into large enterprises reached 31 institutions.
