Under the auspices of H.E. the Minister of Manpower Revamped Intilaaqah Lunched
Intilaaqah has launched its new and revamped programme in a spectacular event held under the auspices of H.E. Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Bakri, minister of Manpower in the Crowne Plaza, and attended by a large number of invitees, including a number of Excellencies and dignitaries from various public and private sectors.
The ceremony began with a speech delivered by John Blascos, Shell Country Chairman that highlighted on Shell Enterprise Empowerment initiatives in Oman and tapped on the milestones of Intillaqah Programme since its inception in 1995 till date. John said “Back in 1995, we launched Intilaaqah, our flagship social investment program modeled on an international program, Shell LiveWIRE, aimed at creating awareness about entrepreneurship amongst youth, developing their skills and recognising those with potential.” To date Intilaaqah has provided services to more than 7500 nationals and created more than 4,200 job opportunities.
Built on the success of Intilaaqah, Shell as well launched Itilaaqah Enterprise Fund in 2005. The fund managed by GroFin (experts in Small & Medium Enterprises risk finance) is dedicated to providing financial and business development support services.
John mentioned that every 5 years, Shell has proudly announced a ‘gift to the nation’, a measure of its deep thanks to the nation. “In 1995 our gift to nation was establishment of Intilaaqah, in 2000, it was the establishment of the joint virtual reality centre at SQU, followed by the establishment of Shell Chair at SQU. In 2005, Shell donated a 10 million dollar to create Intilaaqah Enterprise Fund, which has been managed by GroFin.”
He continues, “on the occasion of Oman’s 40th anniversary, and to make Intilaaqah Fund sustainable, I stand here today to announce our gift to the nation, this year, by adding another 7 million dollars to the fund. I am also pleased to announce the migration of Intilaaqah and Intilaaqah Enterprise Fund as a single program under the brand name Intilaaqah.”
Going forward, Intilaaqah will be one stop shop for entrepreneurs, which will provide financial support and business development services.
“In our pursuit to align our objectives with the country’s ambitious plans to create a digital society, other services will gradually move online. Indeed, we seek to reach out to more potential and existing entrepreneurs by providing online training, online communities and relevant business development tools”, Blascos concludes.
Abdullah bin Hamoud Al Jufaili, Intilaaqah’s Deputy General Manager also delivered a presentation in which he shed an in-depth light on the revamped Intilaaqah programme. In his presentation he highlighted at the beginning on the history of Intilaaqah Programme since its inception to the present day. He also went through the important phases of the programme’s history. He then mentioned that the main focus of the programme will be on creating sustainable businesses and job creation. In addition the programme will offer funding ranging from 50,000 to one million Omani Rials to qualified SME’s, along with comprehensive online training capabilities and tools. The programme will as well include Intilaaqah Best Entrepreneur Awards as an annual event that will take place once a year.
A second presentation was delivered by Jurie ...... , Managing Director of GroFin Oman, which elaborated on GroFin’s role in managing Intilaaqah Enterprise Fund. Jurie also explained about GroFin’s business model and its integrated solutions approach towards growth finance for SME’s. He then tapped on the company’s combined results and millstones, and mentioned that “185 companies world wide are currently receiving support from GroFin, which helped in creating around 5083 sustainable employment opportunities. He also noted that 93% of supported SME’s are successful and contribute in creating an average transaction size of around 150,000 Omani Rials and an average 51% growth in employment rate.”
The ceremony then concluded with the unveiling of Intilaaqah’s new logo, where the audience had the opportunity to witness it an unprecedented and creative way through the use of a massive jigsaw puzzle that was attached in the event’s main banner. The jigsaw puzzle pieces were placed by two young kids and the final jigsaw piece that made up the full image of the logo was then placed by His Excellency the guest of honour to complete the unveiling. End
