OCCI discusses issues of private sector, welcomes SC's support

MUSCAT: The Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) held its Ordinary General Assembly Meeting at the OCCI’s headquarters in Ruwi on Sunday. The meeting chaired by Eng Redha bin Juma al Saleh, Board Chairman of the OCCI, and attended by members of the general assembly, discussed the means of examining the directions and demands of the private sector.

At the beginning of the meeting, Al Saleh commended the support and guidance of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. He explained that such support reflects HM’s attention paid to ensuring the sustainability of the private sector as a partner in the development process.

Al Saleh elaborated that this support drives the private sector to contribute effectively to the journey of building the national economy and achieving the objectives of the future vision (Oman 2040).

He reviewed the role of the private sector organizations in the current exceptional conditions and amid the negative impacts of Covid-19 outbreak on the economy and the business sector. This comes as part of the role played by the OCCI to serve the interests of the private sector and to ensure its growth and sustainability with a view to activating its contribution to the continued renaissance journey.

On this occasion, he stated: “The OCCI strived during this extraordinary period to reflect the directions, demands and conditions of the private sector by adopting some initiatives that sought to reduce the severity of Covid-19 implications and manage its impacts at various sectors.”

“Although the private sector appreciates the dire need to apply the financial balance plan that aims to maintain the financial sustainability of the state, reduce the budget deficit and control the public debt; we look forward to seeing this sector take part in stimulating the national economy by providing more facilities and advantages to it. As the private sector is a vital driver of the national economy, it can reduce the economic downturn and its repercussions on local markets.” he emphasized.

Al Saleh called upon all entities and officials to share the private sector its visions, ambitions and ideas aiming to advance the national economy during the next period.

He touched upon the decisions issued by the Supreme Committee entrusted with dealing with the impacts resulting from the Coronavirus outbreak during the last week. These decisions included the cancellation of fines for expired licenses, renewing the labor cards of non-Omanis and the cancellation of fines accrued on all organizations and companies for not renewing their commercial registration certificates. The decisions included also exempting the small and medium enterprises from paying the fees of Riyada Card, as well as urging the banks and finance companies to cooperate with the affected borrowers, particularly the small and medium enterprises.

Al Saleh also reviewed some facilities provided during the past year after the OCCI exerted great efforts to prove the sufferings of private sector organizations. The OCCI has also taken part in many studies in collaboration with the respective entities to contribute to the recovery of private sector organizations and to reduce the adverse impacts that afflicted them as a result of the economic and health crises.

The meeting also discussed the OCCI’s endeavors to develop the economies of the Wilayats through its branches across all the governorates. The contributions made by the OCCI to national companies that are being established in the Wilayats were highlighted including its donation of RO 5,000 to such companies.

The meeting also reviewed some of the OCCI’s contributions including launching the OCCI’s fund and its social corporate responsibility program to support the private sector with an amount of One Million Omani Riyals.

The OCCI also highlighted its international participations aiming to attract the investments. Most importantly, Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry will take part in Expo Dubai 2020 through its stand at the exhibition along with other organizations and entities that represent the Sultanate at the expo.