In a first of its kind initiative, Eshraqa, Khimji Ramdas’ Social Development Arm, conducted a knowledge sharing consultative workshop, in collaboration with Taiseer Platform, to assist SMEs representing Oman at the ongoing Expo 2020 Dubai.
Titled ‘Marketing, Promotion and Market Growth’, the first knowledge-sharing workshop from Eshraqa, was organized within the framework of Khimji Ramdas’ vision to propel Omani SMEs to the forefront through various progressive initiatives. It was held under Tasees, Eshraqa’s Entrepreneurship Academy, with the key objective of providing a platform for SMEs to assimilate the concepts of marketing and promotion and to acquaint them with the procedures involved in implementing those concepts while planning their marketing strategies.
10 SMEs, representing businesses in fisheries, honey manufacturing, frankincense products, perfumery, technology, apparels as well as natural skin care products and cosmetics, benefitted from this interactive hands-on workshop, which gave the participating entrepreneurs an up close and personal look at the various facets of market growth through marketing and promotional strategies.
Highlighting the significance of the workshop for SMEs, Nailesh Khimji, Director of Khimji Ramdas, said, “Our primary objective behind this extensive program to create newer avenues to showcase our responsibility toward the society, and to raise awareness among the SME sector and emerging micro businesses to find their niche at events like Expo 2020 Dubai. Through Eshraqa, we have repeatedly demonstrated our commitment to the Omani society, in line with the priorities of Vision 2040. This augurs well with our larger goal to proactively contribute to the nation’s economy and future development. We believe in empowering our fellow entrepreneurs with relevant and resourceful skills that are essential to market and promote their products and services.”
Reiterating similar sentiments, Nada Bassam, CEO of Taiseer Platform, said, “We are grateful to the Sultanate’s General Commission for Expo 2020 Dubai for facilitating a host of initiatives for the Omani SMEs, as part of their participation at the Expo. We are pleased to have collaborated with Khimji Ramdas, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Eshraqa team for extending their support to the SMEs through this knowledge sharing session. The SMEs have certainly benefitted from this program and we will look forward to more collaborative initiatives in the future.”
For Nadeem Ahmed, facilitator of the program and Chief Consultant for Tasees and Eshraqa Mentors, the workshop proved to be the right platform to expound the facets of marketing for local SMEs. “From its very inception, Tasees has endeavored to assist in the process of building a sustainable entrepreneurship culture, while addressing the futuristic economic goals of Oman through innovative interventions. We are pleased to have associated with Taiseer to support SMEs that are representing Oman in Expo 2020. We believe that with the right support and assistance, these participating SMEs can prove their potential to significantly boost economic growth of the nation and position Oman at the global front.”
The timely and carefully planned workshop received overwhelming response from the participants. During the course of the program, they were able to identify and constructively apply the techniques of creating value proposition, segmentation, targeting and positioning of their product offerings with the support of Team Eshraqa. The participants, some of who will be further assisted by Tasees and Taiseer Platform, were delighted to have partaken in such a thought-provoking exercise, which pushed them to contemplate about their products in ways they hadn’t before.
Appreciating the range of topics dealt as part of the program, participating entrepreneur Samah Hamood Al Mahrouqi, of Yomecare Company, said: “It has been a very insightful program, helping us understand the concepts of marketing. I am grateful to Taiseer for this wonderful initiative and the entire team of Eshraqa and Khimji Ramdas for giving us this opportunity to learn. This will definitely help us grow our business.”
Another participant, Sulaiman Hamood Al Sumri of Al Rahiq Almakhtoom Honey Production and Retailing Company said, “This program has been immensely beneficial in prodding us to understand and define our project goals and ways to achieve them. We learnt firsthand from marketing professionals on the crux of developing and executing effective marketing strategies.”
To further bolster Omani SMEs participation in the Expo 2020 Dubai, Eshraqa, in association with Taiseer Platform, will conduct a new session on ‘Commercial Business Modeling’. This second knowledge-sharing exercise will help entrepreneurs to analyze, visualize and test the commercial viability of their business using proven business modeling tools.
