619 SMEs benefit from ASMED’s emergency finance programme in 2021

619 SMEs benefit from ASMED’s emergency finance programme in 2021

Muscat – The Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ASMED), in cooperation with Oman Development Bank (ODB), on Tuesday shed light on strategic directions for developing small and medium enterprises, the Jahiziah programme, other financing programmes, and the role of ODB in managing lending portfolios and receiving funding requests.

Abdulaziz bin Saeed al Raisi, vice president of ASMED, pointed out that this meeting comes after His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik’s recent emphasis on the vital role of small and medium enterprises, and the entrepreneurship sector, in supporting the national economy.

“The Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development conducted a study to monitor the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on small and medium enterprises last year. The study identified many measures to support owners of small and medium enterprises,” Raisi disclosed.

He further explained, “Despite the challenges faced by SMEs, the number of new enterprises registered with the authority increased to about 10,000 in 2021. We started displaying the products of SMEs in large shopping centres to develop Omani products in ways that are attractive to the consumer. The authority will also display these products on international platforms, and a tender has been launched for this purpose.”

The total number of SMEs