Building a vibrant economy with help from entrepreneurs, startups

Muscat: His Highness Sayyid Belarab bin Haitham Al Said, Honorary President of “Rising Omani Start-ups Programme”, presided over Investment and Startup Summit, organised by the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (ASMED).

The two-day event, held at Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre, is organized in cooperation with a number of government departments.

The summit began with a session entitled ” Future of Entrepreneurship and Startups”. It elaborated on a number of themes. It included a discussion on theme of the emerging companies’ system and covered a review of global, regional and local experiences in the field of building and managing the startups.

A special session was dedicated to the second theme titled “Investing in startups” and it capitalized on venture funds, crowdfunding and startups and startups stock exchange.

The summit explored the most successful experiences in the field of startups in the global, regional and local arenas.

The activities of the second day include a session titled “Business Incubators and Accelerators” and a workshop on incentivizing the establishment of private investment funds.

The summit will comprise specialized workshops in which decision makers, investment specialists and representatives of nascent firms will debate the startups system in Oman, as well business accelerators for government and private companies, and the establishment of private investment funds, with exclusive branches for startups.

Through the summit , ASMED seeks to spread the culture of startups based on innovation and advanced technologies. It encourages business aspirants to consult global expertise and listen to international speakers with extensive experience in the field. The event opens wide vistas for marketing startups regionally and globally. It provides support for young people in the initial stages of “thinking business” and it mulls innovative financing solutions for business-minded youth.

The summit raises chances of Omani startups to obtain financing and investment, develop their own systems and defines appropriate approaches and initiatives for supporting them.

HH Sayyid Belarab toured the exhibition, held on the sidelines of the summit, in which 60 startups based on innovation and technologies are taking part.

Startups and investment entities are expected to sign agreements at the conclusion of the summit tomorrow (Tuesday). A final statement will be issued, citing strategic approaches of the rising Omani startups programme and presenting features of its initiatives for the year 2023.