New strategy aims to expand a favourable environment for SMEs
Muscat: A strategy for the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector is being prepared in line with Oman Vision 2040 through the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Authority (ASMED).
The new strategy aims to make an enabling environment for SMEs bigger through the progression of mechanisms and programmes than the integration of all entities similar to entrepreneurship.
It is also preparing to increase the contribution of SMEs to gross domestic product (GDP), raising the marks of the Sultanate of Oman in the entrepreneurship picture and introducing new projects to create employment opportunities in the country.
The total number of SMEs registered with ASMED at the end of May 2022 increased by 46. 9% to 78,089 compared to 53,166 SMEs at the same time in 2021, according to data published by the National Centre for Statistics and Information.
Musandam Governorate recorded the largest accumulation of 100. 5 percent, followed by Dhofar Governorate by 77. 7 percent, Al Wusta Governorate by 70. 8 percent and Al Dhahirah Governorate by 32. 8 percent.
Muscat governorate recorded the number of SMEs until the end of May 2022, reaching 26,374, followed by Al Batinah Governorate of the North with 12,030 and Al Dakhiliyah Governorate with 8,821.
At the beginning of June 2022, a number of new measures for the SME sector were announced. It provided an additional set of subsidies for SMEs, traders and bankrupt individuals. In addition, to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the package included a series of grants and the payment of overdue installments through marketers.
These included exemptions for merchants who held a Riyada card (for beneficiaries of emergency loans) issued through the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Authority, exemptions from fines and fees payable through SMEs in case of retention of loans to the finalists’ portfolio (formerly called the Al Raffd Fund) until the end of this year, and exemptions from the payment of arrears through merchants and owners. of SME housing facing criminal sentences as a result of prosecution for NSF checks drawn with inadequate funds.
The measures also included the postponement of lawsuits against individuals/institutions that complied with the provisions of the loan agreements signed with the portfolio of lfinishers until the end of 2022.
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