Muscat: Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Authority signed an agreement with Lulu Group by which the group provides marketing outlets for SMEs at its 28 stores scattered across the Omani governorates.
The agreement was signed by Abdul Aziz Al-Raisi, Vice President of SME Authority for SMEs Development, as a representative of the authority and Shabeer KA, Regional Director of Lulu Group in Oman.
This move comes as part of the efforts exerted by Lulu Group to enable SMEs to market its products by offering them benefits and spaces at all its branches. The group provides this support without charging fees from the SMEs. It also shares its marketing experience with these enterprises to help them increase their sales and gives feedback to help them in improving the quality and packaging of the SMEs’ products. Additionally, the Group supports competitiveness between enterprises by offering display shelves and spaces according to the sales achieved by each enterprise.
Following the signing of the agreement, Al-Raisi commented: “This agreement highlights the efforts made by our Authority to support the SMEs and enable them to reach a wider range of consumers by offering them additional benefits and facilities to market their products and services as part of the authority’s corporate responsibility. Lulu Group has great potential and is widespread through its branches scattered across the Omani governorates. As such, the Group will provide entrepreneurs with more opportunities to display their products, which will surely result in an increase in their sales.”
“SMEs Authority appreciates the efforts of Lulu Group to encourage entrepreneurs by offering them spaces at its branches and purchasing the products of local SMEs. This agreement lays a framework for the relationship between the group and SMEs owners in a way that contributes to achieving the optimal benefit from the potentials of Lulu Group,” he added.
Shabeer said, “This agreement embodies the role played by our group to support the Omani products, encourage local entrepreneurs and bolster the efforts made by the government represented by the SMEs Authority in promoting serious entrepreneurs who wish to benefit from the available opportunities. Our group deals with 50 enterprises and suppliers that fall under the category of SMEs.”
He added, “The agreement also reflects the role of investments in enhancing SMEs and supporting the business environment in the Sultanate. The agreement also bolsters Lulu Group’s role in localizing investments in the Sultanate. It enhances the competitiveness between small and medium enterprises as the allocation of shelves and display spaces for enterprises at any branch depends on the volume of sales. The more an enterprise sells its products, the space allocated for it increases.”
He explained that the cooperation mechanism between the SMEs Authority and Lulu Group is based on registering the SMEs through the Authority, which provides Lulu Group with a list of the registered SMEs and the needs of every SME to enable the group to offer the appropriate support for each enterprise.
