Oman Economic Review – August 2018

COVER STORY

52 August 2018

S

et up in 2003, Oman Shipping

Company (OSC) grew out of the

Omani government’s vision to

develop a national fleet catering

to the maritime transportation require-

ments of the country’s rapidly growing

hydrocarbon, petrochemical, mining

and metallurgical industries. Beyond

OSC’s core function as a shipping

logistics provider, there is a commit-

ment to recreating Oman’s once proud

maritime history as a seafaring nation

and thereby encouraging young Omanis

to pursue wholly rewarding careers in

this industry. OSC has adopted several

social investment programmes that

serve different social groups such as the

Shera’a, Blue Economics Workshops, the

Fishermen’s Safety Campaign as well as

“Thaddi Oman” for youth development.

Fishermen Safety Campaign

Oman Shipping Company and the

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries

have signed an MoU by which the

company is financing safety campaign

for fishermen in all costal governorates

across the Sultanate. The project is a

part of the company’s social investment

programmes in developing coastal

communities in the country. The

campaign aims to raise marine safety

awareness for the local fishermen

and equip them with safety bag which

includes basic safety equipment that

can prevent or mitigate risks at sea.

The campaign was launched in 2014

in Sohar and have covered all coastal

governorates in the Sultanate. More

than 500 registered fishermen have

benefited from this campaign.

Sana’ah- coastal women

programme

Sana’a is a social initiative for the

development of coastal women in the

Sultanate, funded by Oman Shipping

Company and implemented and

supervised by the Omani Women’s

Association in Seeb, as part of a

partnership aimed at empowering

coastal women in Oman economically

and enabling them to utilise the

abundant fisheries and increase the

added value of these resources for

economic benefit.

DEVELOPING COASTAL

COMMUNITIES

Oman Shipping Company has implemented

several social investment programmes that serve

different social segments in the country

Sana’a is a knowledge initiative that

offers training programmes about

production of fish pickles such as squid

pickles and others. That aims to raise

the living standards of the participants

and contribute to the development

of SMEs in this field, in addition to

increasing the added value of existing

fish resources.

Oman Shipping Company will finance

the construction of the production

workshop of fish pickles at the

association’s premises, which includes

equipment for the processing and

packaging of products. The workshop

will serve as a training place for women

who join the programme. In addition,

there is the possibility of making

the workshop available for rent and

allocating all revenues to finance the

activities of the association.

Shera’a-blue economy workshop

Shera’a is the newest social investment

programme introduced by Oman

Shipping Company for developing

entrepreneurship of the Omani youth,

as part of the company’s efforts to

contribute to the development of

coastal communities in the Sultanate.

This Initiative endeavours to introduce

the concept of ‘the blue economy’

to Omani students, graduates and

entrepreneurs to encourage them to

benefit from business opportunities

that are associated with sea such as

fishing, tourism and maritime transport

and others by taking advantage of the

growth of marmite sector and economic

possibilities available in coastal

governorates in the Sultanate.

The workshops will be facilitated by

a number of lecturers and specialists

in the fields of maritime activities and

entrepreneurship. The programme

hopes to develop youth capabilities to

contribute to the prosperity of coastal

communities. The programme will

be subject to continuous evaluation

and development to enhance the yield

of each of the participants and the

community.