Oman Business Finder Mgazine

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3 Chairman & Managing Editor: Ahmed Rashid Ashukaili Editorial Director: Muhammed Shakir Business Officer: Rashid Bin Ahmed Marketing Head: Issa Bin Mohammed Al Nbhani Creative Head: Ahmed Al Fari Digital Support: Amira Al Shukaili Cover & Layout: Midlaj Bin Sulaiman

Editorial Office: Oman Business Finder Ghala, Muscat, Oman Contact: +968 9126 0908, +968 9903 8484

Website: www.omanbusinessfinder.com Email: info@omanbusinessfinder.com office@omanbusinessfinder.com

Published by: NextaOne Business Solutions Disclaimer: every effort is made to provide accurate and up to date information. The publishers cannot accept any consequences

We pass through a year in which world went on to standstill with no clues.

Everybody happened to stay at home without any differences between poor or rich, young or old and women or men.

Each and every institution from giant business houses, schools, government institutions to small shops felt the pandemic with all its seriousness.

But the human race was not ready to give up with all these. They came together to defend covid 19, with all kinds of technical and manual efforts. Human kind searched new ways to overcome the pandemic.

Same as rest of the world, business sector also felt the pandemic at its heart. When the offline businesses faced trouble, world moved to online business system in a fast pace. This issue of Oman Business Finder discusses about future of business in Post-Covid World. We present first issue of Oman Business Finder Magazine to readers.

Editor

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A blessed past, A promising future The Sultanate of Oman Amid pandemic, the Sultanate of Oman celebrates the 50th National Day on November 18, 2020. We proudly commemorate the renaissance day of the Sultanate since 1970th. We commemorate the outstanding achievements of our late and beloved leader; His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Our, heartfelt greetings to His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al Said. Hope this anniversary will bring further wellbeing to him with Omani people and their country relishing abundant bounties of progress and prosperity under His Majesty’s wise leadership.

The Royal Directives of His Majesty Haitham Bin Tariq Al Said stipulate that the future vision “Oman 2040� will be thoroughly developed and precisely formulated in light of wide community consensus and the participation of all social segments of the society.

It aims at fully realizing economic and social realities, objectively foresight the future, and effectively guides planning in the upcoming two decades. We wish to everyone from the Sultanate of Oman a Glorious National Day

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Post-Covid World and Future Prospects of B usiness Ahmad Al Fari

The outspread of corona virus disease (COVID 19) has affected everyone on the planet. This is for the first time in the history of mankind when more than 70% of countries – which include developed, developing, and underdeveloped nations – are under lockdown. It has already caused huge unrest in the global economy. People have lost their jobs and are left with no or limited sources of income, companies specifically small and medium cap businesses are shutting down.

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Giants are putting many of their processes on hold. A number of government organizations, too, have been closed down as a preventive measure for corona virus spreading. How the corona virus is driving new changes in digital marketing Corona virus lockdown has halted many business processes starting from manufacturing, supply chain to logistics, and marketing.

Shift towards Online Shopping

The pandemic has

accelerated the shift towards a more digital world and triggered changes in online shopping behaviours that are likely to have lasting effects. Corona Virus has forever changed online shopping behaviours, according to a survey of about 3,700 consumers in nine emerging and developed economies.

The survey done by UNCTAD, entitled “COVID-19 and E-commerce�, thoroughly searched whether new virus has influence purchasing patterns and consumer behaviour. Survey covered Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, the Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, South Africa,

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Switzerland and Turkey. Half of the respondents do frequent online shopping and spend more time over internet for news, health-related information and digital entertainment.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi says that “the acceleration of online shopping globally underscores the urgency of ensuring all countries can seize the opportunities offered by digitalization as the world moves from pandemic response to recovery.

One Interesting conclusion by the survey is, In the post-COVID-19 world, the unparalleled growth of e-commerce will disrupt national and international retail frameworks. This is why policymakers should adopt concrete measures to facilitate e-commerce adoption among small and medium enterprises, create specialized talent pools and attract international e-commerce investors.”

COVID-19 has underlined the value of digital sales and customer relationships. One major question comes up here is that “How do you keep up with the changing consumer behaviour?”, “How do you anticipate their requirements?” and more importantly, “How do you stay ahead of your competitors in this new digital landscape?” And most importantly “Will the shift from offline to online shopping go back to normal after COVID-19, or is this really the new normal?”

One major change is that consumers who were used to doing all their shopping in physical stores have gone through a

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personal transformation and will not return to their old shopping habits.

When asking the respondents about this, 60% of the respondents in the U.K., and 58% of the respondents in Germany, indicated that they will do “about the same amount of online shopping as they are doing today,” while 48% of the respondents in the U.S., and 40% of the respondents in France, indicated they will probably do more online shopping than they are doing presently during COVID-19.

Ecommerce in Oman

In early 2006, Oman’s government began to implement the e-Government initiative in conjunction with the provision of electronic payments (e-Payment) and in particular Internet payments. This was identified as a critical shared service in the Omani e-Government architecture and serves as a main enabler to the online delivery of government services and goods. Oman’s ITA has taken up the strategic initiative to drive the development of e-Payments in Oman.In May 2008, Oman legalized electronic transactions by adopting the Electronic Transactions Law, the first law for legalizing electronic transactions in Oman. The law legalizes the use of digital signatures in electronic commerce and communications

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through letters, emails, etc. in order to assure adequate protection to both businesses and the common public. The law also stipulates penalties for electronic crimes involving e-transactions and provides limited privacy protections for personal data.

The number of electronic transactions via Oman’s National e-Payment Gateway nearly doubled in 2017, underscoring the increasingly important role of this portal in enabling secure payments for e-Government services, eCommerce, e-Tendering, online donations, and a host of other online transactions. According to the ITA, which operates the National e-Payment Gateway, around 1.9 million transactions were made via this portal in 2017, up from around 1.1 million a year earlier.

According to a study by Frost & Sullivan, internet spending in the Middle East is booming, with GCC countries expecting a 40 percent growth in eCommerce by 2020 that reaches USD 41.5 billion. Oman is expected to have a total market share of 12 percent across the GCC countries. According to Internet World Stats, there were more than 3.3 million Internet users in Oman as of December 2017, which constituted almost 70 percent of the population.

Consumers in Oman search online mainly for fashion apparels, flight tickets, beauty products and hotel reservation. According to study by Mastercard, Omani people mostly from eBay and amazon. Talabat, an online food order and delivery site, is also growing in popularity and use in Oman.Oman Post also is working on serving the eCommerce market and making use of Oman Post’s branches and vehicles for deliveries of products ordered online. Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress, and Namshi are the most popular eCommerce sites.

According to a recent study by YouGov, it concluded that the most common barrier to online shopping within the GCC was related to discomfort with making online payments. Among women, the top issue was lack of cash on delivery options. A previous YouGov survey found that 74 percent of Omani respondents felt online shopping as safe with only 24 percent considering online shopping unsecure. Thawani was established in 2006 as one of the first digital platforms to allow mobile payment solutions to merchants and consumers in Oman. Other innovative start-ups are emerging that also offer alternative payment methods.

Social Media and Future of Business

Social media penetration in Oman has touched 43 percent, according to research conducted by Statista, a UK-based online research agency. Studies suggest the most frequently accessed search engine after Google is YouTube.

Omani Twitter users generate 500,000-600,000 tweets a day, according to an Arab social media report.

There is an increasing trend among businesses, especially among Omani owned SMEs and entrepreneurs, to promote and sell their merchandise through social media. Companies are increasingly using “social media influencers” for store and product promotions.There’s no doubt in popularity of digital marketing, whether it’s a paid ad on social media or an e-commerce website. However, the

coronavirus has caused some changes in how marketing is approached, and these changes may be indefinite.

More people have been using social media since the beginning of the lockdowns, and this is an opportunity for effective social media marketing.

For example, to reach more people on social media, you can run a pay-perclick (PPC) campaign. These types of campaigns only charge you a fee when someone actually clicks on the ad. Social media is also another way for you to engage with customers in a safe manner, rather than answering their questions in person. You may have to dedicate more resources to social media in the future to ensure inquiries are handled in a timely manner.

Make and Modify Your Website

While almost everyone searches for products online, it is important to give a well-maintained website and application if possible. If your website doesn’t already have a sales checkout, now is a good opportunity to add one.

That might mean adding a feature to your site that allows people to pay for an item in advance, and then choose delivery or pickup options. These features need to be easy to find and navigate. You can use search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to reach on top of Google results. You also have to make sure that your e-commerce website is mobile-friendly, as many people shop from their mobile devices. Social media stores should also be easy to use.

Add some calls to action in your website content or ads to help ensure people know about their alternate options – and more importantly, to use them.

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Invest Easy: A Dream Project Facilitating B usiness in Oman Muhammed Shakir Invest Easy is one of the initiatives

by Government of Oman. It is an outstanding example of using global best practices and standards to develop the country’s business environment. It is a comprehensive suite of e-services designed to provide the business community with a single window to interact with the government, starting from establishing a new company, licensing the activities and ending with submitting annual reports. The initiative is based on the government’s national plan of e-Transformation and the execution is completely based on whole of Government model.

The concept of Invest Easy

can be described with the Whole of Government Approach. It is a joint effort of several government entities to provide entrepreneurs, prospective investors and businesses a single point of entry to use high quality online-services and to conduct official procedures with the whole Government of Sultanate of Oman and minimize the need to visit different Government entities on separate occasions.The main purpose of the Invest Easy initiative is to provide citizens, entrepreneurs, prospective investors and businesses with the services and information they need quickly and efficiently. This helps transform Oman into a country with easy, reliable and transparent business environment.

History

Starting a business in Oman used to be a cumbersome and time-consuming process. All the paperwork had to be done manually, there was no integration between different government entities and the officials were only able to process low volumes of applications. It was not only a difficult process for the applicant, but it was also difficult for the officials.

The One-Stop-Shop (OSS) for Company Registration was set up early in 2000s, when the customer service functions of different government entities were co-located to provide customers with a faster service and eliminate the need to physically travel between different locations. Hence the name “one-stopshop” – to get all company registration services from single location.

Technology transformation of OSS started in 2003 and the first version of OSS system went live in 2006. This was an improvement at the time, and the registration of companies increased significantly. In 2010 the second OSS technology transformation project was initiated, and the system was upgraded to work on cloud services which allow system availability to close to 24/7.

In 2013 the third OSS business and technology transformation project was initiated and it is called "Invest Easy".

How It Works

Invest Easy portal (One Stop Shop) provides fast and easy e-services to help set up and manage companies in Oman. Using the e-services helps minimize paperwork and save costs and time.

Commercial Registration

Fast and efficient Business Registration processes within a relatively

The main purpose of the Invest Easy initiative is to provide citizens, entrepreneurs, prospective investors and businesses with the services and information they need quickly and efficiently. This helps transform Oman into a country with easy, reliable and transparent business environment. short period of time. Full electronic Business Registration process.

Licensing

• Fast and efficient Business Activities licensing processes within a relatively short period of time.

• Full electronic Business Activities licensing process.

• Availability, presence and accessibility • A single online entry point for the business community to access government services and information.

• Flexible, easy and transparent interaction between the business community and the government.

• Multi-channel access to services for the investors: Web application, mobile application, web services, and service providers (SANAD, lawyers and auditors).

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It can be noticed today that the average number of “New Commercial Registration” applications has increased from 7,000 applications per year before the launch of “Invest Easy” initiative to 31,000 applications annually.

Annual Report

Single annual report integrated and shared with all related entities.

Administrative Capacity

• A trustworthy and secure environment for businesses to conduct transactions.

• Effective and efficient delivery of services 24/7.

• Easy method for e-signing and e-payment.

Services Available Through Invest Easy

• Registering the business.

• Facilitating Chamber Certificates.

• Licensing the business activities and simplifying the e-Government Processes.

• Uploading Annual Reports and sharing it with the related entities.

• Receiving updates on Laws and regulations.

• Receiving updates on Fees.

Results of Invest Easy Initiative

The impact of "Invest Easy" covers many areas including ease of starting a business, influencing user behaviour, reducing costs on government, increasing

government revenue, reducing costs, effort and time on the user, and other positive influences.

The initiative helps simplify registering and managing companies in Oman. It also makes interactions with government entities faster and more transparent.

Starting a business now can take only minutes, instead of a whole week. The number of needed processes has been reduced threefold, from 18 to 6. This enables to register a substantially larger amount of companies in a fraction of the time previously necessary.

Many business activities can already be started without the need to apply for a license.

Currently there are more than 400 business activities that do not need to be licensed (LicenseFree Business Activities). That number is growing and the licensing process itself is also being eventually transformed into an online service.It can be noticed today that the average number of "New Commercial Registration" applications has increased from 7,000 applications per year before the launch of "Invest Easy" initiative to 31,000 applications annually. And the average number of licensing applications, which include licensed and free business activities in addition to the Places of Activities applications, has also increased from 15,000 to 56,000 annually.

In April 2015, "New Commercial Registration" service was launched and it had been put available in all channels like:

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Invest Easy Offices (Front Offices), e-Portal (Online) and Service Providing Centers. This change helped to make reaching the service easier and faster. It can be noticed that the user is becoming more depending on the self-service by the time. At the same time, it can be noticed that Invest Easy Offices are not anymore having the overload to provide this service except in certain cases where the investor doen't have Omani ID or Resident card.In December 2015, the fisrt "Licensing" service was launched which is "My CR Places of Activities" which helps the investors to define their places of practicing the activities (Branches) and it had been put available in all channels. Accordingly, lot of Flexible "Free" Business Activities have been defined to not require a license to be practiced, since the curve of creating new places of activities raised up as practicing activities became easier.

By the time, the initiative worked on integrating the different licensing entities

to the system in order to enable it as a single sign on window for applying for business licenses and interact with the government. It can be noticed also that the user is becoming more depending on the self-service by the time. At the same time it can be noticed that Invest Easy Offices are not anymore having the overload to provide this service except in certain cases where the license is not yet defined in the system and the license owner is not yet integrated to the system.

Achievements of Invest Easy

77 e-services and 6 versions of the Invest Easy portal. 25 mobile services and 6 versions of the mobile app.The project has initiated a call center. The project has established the first e-Services Support Center in Oman.

The e-services launched are used already by over 260,000 users.

The 23 entities who are integrated has consumed over 6 million data.

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A’Thabat Construction: A Success Story Amira Al Shukaili

Oman is a growing economy in every sectors. Foreseeing this growth, numerous companies are coming forth investing more in Oman.

Meanwhile, Al Thabat present before us success story of a business venture, which growing up as a tycoon along with Oman economy. The company has share in latest China-Oman (Duqm) Light Industry Park, which is planned as building material market.

Al Thabat Construction Co. is a leading Construction company, established in 2008, operates based on Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Since its establishment, it has achieved an impressive legacy of successfully meeting its clients’ requirements and exceeding their expectations.

Today, it has achieved reputation as an Excellent Grade Construction Company in Oman.

Al Thabat has gained extensive experience in multi-disciplinary projects, and has introduced new valuable experience to field. It is a dynamic company that combines the qualified multi-cultural human resources, leading innovative approaches, and integrity required to

Al Thabat Construction Co. is a leading Construction company, established in 2008, operates based on Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.

Since its establishment, it has achieved an impressive legacy of successfully meeting its clients’ requirements and exceeding their expectations.

achieve customer satisfaction and quality performance.

It got fame for safe and helpful working environment, where every employee individually and collectively, can dedicate themselves to providing our customers with exceptional workmanship, extraordinary service, and professional integrity. Al Thabat Holding LLC applies a management system in line with ISO standards for Construction of all types of buildings (along with complete MEP, IT & Telecom Installations and related ancillary works) maintenance of existing buildings, travel related services like ticketing and booking of hotels, transport and tour package, estate management, cleaning & landscaping and specialized workshop for joinery and decoration.

Today Al Thabat Holding LLC has market share in construction, facilities management, real estate, manufacturing, tourism and technology sectors in Oman.

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Al Thabat travel is a pioneer in the travel agency field in the Sultanate of Oman. We have continuously strived to maintain our customer’s satisfaction.

Our main objective is to offer complete travel solutions and world class products and services by creating a one stoptravel-shop experience.

The investment sector of A'Thabat Holding Company is a step forward towards managing all aspects of the Group by developing capital to invest with developers & investors as well as enhancing mutually beneficial trade relations through all forms of investment in real estate and other related sectors in the Sultanate and abroad.

Al Thabat travel is a pioneer in the travel agency field in the Sultanate of Oman.

We have continuously strived to maintain our customer's satisfaction. Our main objective is to offer complete travel solutions and world class products and services by creating a one stop-travel-shop experience.

Al Thabat information Technology, is now A leading IT solution business, structured cabling business partner of Major brands and Perimeter intrusion system. The IT division past is embodied in its industryleading presence of Market & successful projects in Oman In addition, specialize in the design and installation of structured cabling systems. It offers a wide variety of services lik, DATA CENTER UTP/FIBER Cabling installation, Ducting & Cooling, Structured

Al Thabat Specialized workshop for joinery and decoration is operating on an area of 2200 m² with latest machines & 45 skilled workers, which ensurez to provide our client a distinguished and consistent work in accordance with international quality standards.

installations of Data and Voice, Fiber OPTIC cable turnkey installation (Indoor & outdoor), CCTV Surveillance system installations & AMC services, Access control system installation, Perimeter Electrified fence & PIDS installations, Audio and Video solutions and Public addressing system solutions.

Al Thabat Specialized workshop for joinery and decoration is operating on an area of 2200 m² with latest machines & 45 skilled workers, which ensurez to provide our client a distinguished and consistent work in accordance with international quality standards. Al Thabat Holding provides worldclass business tailored to suit customer taste and needs by linking the creativity of designers and craft joinery.

Al Thabat Real Estate Management deals with Property Management, Leasing, Maintanance, land scaping, pest controle and cleaning etc.The company gives top-quality management and maintenance services for Residential and Commercial properties.

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Oman: The B est Tourist Destination in GCC Issa Al Nbhani

The Sultanate of Oman is a gifted country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. As the oldest independent state in the Arab World, Oman has embraced modernization and progress while retaining the core aspects of its culture and heritage – making it the perfect travel destination for those seeking an authentic Arabian experience. Omanis are very welcoming of visitors from other countries, a fact that is reflected in the generous hospitality extended to guests.

Oman has various tourist attractions, particularly within the realm of cultural tourism. Muscat was named the best city to visit in the world by American travel guide publisher Lonely Planet in 2012, and was chosen as the Capital of Arab Tourism of 2012.Here We Feature Must Visit Places in Oman

Souq Muttrah

The Muttrah Souq one of the oldest

marketplaces in Oman dating back two hundred years. It is located adjacent to the harbor of Muscat and has seen immense trade in the age of sail, being strategically located on the way to India and China The market was a source of supply for Omanis where they could buy their needs in the 1960s when life requirements were simpler than today. Most of the goods were imported, in addition to local products like textiles, fruit, vegetables and dates. The main thoroughfare of the souq carries mainly household goods, shoes and ready-made garments. Further inside, there are mixed smells of frankincense, perfume oils, fresh jasmine, Omani pots, paintings, hookah pipes, framed khanjars (daggers), leatherwork, incense and spices.

Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is the main mosque in the Sultanate of Oman, located in the capital city of Muscat. In 1992, Qaboos bin Said al Said, the then Sultan of Oman, directed that his country should have a Grand Mosque. A major feature of this mosque is the interior, especially prayer carpet which covers the floor of the prayer hall. It contains, 1,700,000,000 knots, weighs 21 tonnes and took four years to produce, and brings together the classical Persian Tabriz, Kashan and Isfahan design traditions. 28 colours in varying shades were used, the majority obtained from traditional vegetable dyes. It is the second largest single-piece carpet in the world. The mosque is built from 300,000 tonnes of Indian sandstone. The main prayer hall can hold over 6500 worshippers, while the women’s prayer hall can accommodate 750 worshipers. The outer paved ground can hold 8000 worshipers and there is additional space available in the interior courtyard and the passageways, making a total capacity of up to 20,000 worshipers.

Shatti Al Qurum

Shatti Al Qurum, a neighbourhood in Muscat, is home to Al Qurum beach, one of the longest and busiest beaches in Oman. It’s near numerous cafés, restaurants, shopping malls and hotels. Shatti Al-Qurum is the most expensive residential locality situated on the coast of Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman. This is the most popular destination for expatriates living in Muscat. The common and unique feature to Shatti is the ocean of white houses. An opera house, cinema, theatre, schools and a hospital are also located there.

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Ras Al Jinz

Ras Al Jinz is a fishing village located in the Ras Al Hadd, on the eastern shores of the Arabian Peninsula. The village features earth’s raw beauty, with unique landscapes, and extraordinary animals, such as sea turtles, which Ras Al Jinz makes the perfect home for. The Ras Al Jinz beach is world renown for the nesting endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas), and probably the most important nesting concentration on the Indian Ocean. This is the only official place where the public can watch the unique nesting process of these amazing sea giants, and for that reason, it has an immense impact on tourism in Oman. Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve was established by Royal Decree in 1996. Ras Al Jinz Turtle Centre, a truly eco-tourism project, was established in 2008 to help conserve the fascinating and amazing nesting processes of Oman sea turtles, considered as a priceless national treasure. Ras

Al Jinz Centre conducts guided excursions every night to view the turtles and witness the nesting process. All the Centre guides are knowledgeable, having a commitment to the preservation of the turtles. Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve is managed by Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran).

Wadi Bani Khalid Wadi Bani Khalid is one of the best-known wadis in the Sultanate of Oman. Its stream maintains a constant flow of water throughout the year. Large pools of water and boulders are scattered along the course of the wadi. As a geographical area, the wadi covers a large swathe of lowland and the Hajar Mountains.

Salalah

Salalah is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani governorate of Dhofar.

It is the birthplace of the former sultan, Qaboos bin Said. Salalah attracts many people from other parts of Oman and the Persian Gulf region during the monsoon/khareef season, which spans from June to September. The climate of the region and the monsoon allows the city to grow some vegetables and fruits like coconut and bananas. There are many gardens

within the city where these vegetables and fruits grow. During the Khareef season from June to September, the mountains turn green, and there are many waterfalls to visit, such as at Wadi Darbat, Ain Athum, Ain Tubrook, and Ain Khor. There are four reputedly tombs of Islamic prophets: Nabi Imran, possibly the Virgin Mary’s father but more likely a local prophet; Nabi Ayoob, the biblical Job; Nabi Houd; and Nabi Salih. Amongst the Dhofar Governorate’s cultural attractions is the Salalah carnival, which includes the usual rides, family activities, concerts, cultural events and vendors.

The Jebel Akhdar

The Jebel Akhdar or Al Jabal Al Akhdar is part of Al Hajar Mountains range in Ad Dakhiliyah Governorate of Oman.

It is famous for its labyrinth of wadis and terraced orchards, where pomegranates, apricots and roses grow in abundance due to its mild Mediterranean climate. This mostly limestone mountain is one of the highest points in Oman and eastern Arabia. Jebel Akhdar lies at the central section of Al Hajar range, located around 150 km (93 mi) from Muscat and accessible only by four-wheel drive. The range is mostly desert, but at higher

altitudes receives around 300 mm (12 in) of precipitation annually moist enough to allow the growth of shrubs and trees and support agriculture. It is this that gives the mountains their “green” name.

Jebel Shams

Jebel Shams is a mountain located in northeastern Oman north of Al Hamra town.

It is the highest mountain of the Hajar range and the country. The mountain is a popular sightseeing area located 240 km (150 mi) from Muscat. In the summer, temperature is around 20 °C (68 °F) and in the winter it drops to less than 0 °C (32 °F). Nearby is Jabal Akhdar, another prominent peak in the region. The highest point of the mountain is the North Summit, which is occupied by a military base and is a restricted area. The mountain also has second summit, the South Summit, which is publicly accessible for trekking via the W4 Trail, marked by the Oman Ministry of Tourism.

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Majlis al Jinn

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Majlis al Jinn is the second-largest[1] known cave chamber in the world, The cave is located in a remote area of the Selma Plateau at 1,380 metres above sea level in the Sultanate of Oman, 100 km south-east from Muscat. Access to the cavern is only through a free descent of one of three vertical entrances in the ceiling, formed by water seeping through the weakened marly limestone in the zones of fracturing. Until fairly recently there had not been a way to reach the cave by car, so cavers had to hike in carrying their equipment or rent donkeys from a village a few hours walk from the cave entrance. The original explorers, Don and Cheryl, often flew into the area by helicopter. Now the cave can be reached on a rough track, which requires four-wheel drive. Cavers entering Majlis al Jinn require about 200m of specialized rope and equipment to descend and ascend safely.

Masirah Island

Masirah Island is an island off the east coast of mainland Oman in the Arabian Sea, and the largest island of the country. Masirah Island has just opened for tourism. One can still only get to the island by ferry, managed by the National Ferry Company www.nfc.om, which runs six times a day between Shannah to Masirah. By now, there is a four-star-hotel and a kitesurfing camp. For kitesurfers, Masirah is an attractive spot in summer because of the monsoon winds which blow steadily at over 20 knots The island is an important hatching ground for loggerhead sea turtles, similar in importance to the beaches at Ras al Hadd and nearby Ras al-Jinz as a hatching ground for green sea turtles. Critically endangered and the most unique population of humpback whales also migrate in the waters surrounding the island and Masirah gulf.

B usiness Facts It takes the average McDonald’s employee 7 months to earn what a CEO makes in an hour.

Did You Know: 94% of marketers use Facebook advertising on a regular basis.

YouTube was founded by three former employees of PayPal. Each year approximately half of billion dollars is spent on bubble gum by the kids in North America.

American Airlines saved 40000 $ by avoiding one olive from each salad served in first class.

The creator of the NIKE Swoosh symbol was paid only 35$ for the design.

Steve Jobs’ Annual salary was just 1 $, just enough to keep company health benefits.

Yahoo is actually an acronym: “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle”.

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Know your audience B e your audience Ahmed Rashid

(MBA -Bedfordshire, UK)

The most successful way to use affiliate programs is to only promote products, services, and offers that match the needs and wants of your audience. Consider why they came to your site, watched your YouTube video, joined an email marketing list, or followed you on social media.

Be like your audience, think like your audience. Understand how they feel and anticipate their next moves.

What do you offer that they are looking for? Ensure that the affiliate products you are promoting provide a solution to your audience’s problems.

If you write about sports, don’t place printer ink ads just because everyone has a printer and these programs have a high yield. People who come to read reviews or get stats for their favorite teams don’t think about these things when they are on your site.

The more relevant the ads are to your readers, the more likely they are to use them. An interesting way to look at affiliate marketing is this: Educating your audience about related products and services that they might be interested in can be seen as a form of content value added.

Not only does knowing your audience give you better success with the products you promote, but it can help guide you in the best places to market, advertise and promote your website to attract visitors in the first place.

The better you know your audience, the better you can use demographics, psychological characteristics, and other information, to better target your audience when advertising on platforms like Facebook.

31 Be like your audience, think like your audience.

Understand how they feel and anticipate their next moves.

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Marketing Tips Marketing is a major factor for successful business ventures. It would help for growth in business along with attracting more costumers.

Educate with your content Informational contents and marketing catch up more audience online now days. Relatively less people are keen to watch ads where informational contents can take your business to a new level.

Personalize Your Marketing Messages Personalized messaging strategy will always make your costumers feel valuable for you. More over it will make your relation with clients closer. Technical systems like send birthday wishes to costumers will make company more attached with them.

Let data drive your creative While doing marketing, especially digital marketing, data will be more effective in influencing minds. You can understand by analysing data, which content has more clicks and which product has been most asked from your website etc. Data should be used to take business to next level.

Update Your Content Don’t go along with old content and same design etc. always keep websites and social media platforms updated with new designs and content.

Use more video Videos are a trend over online platforms nowadays. More than still, motion picture platforms attract more, especially from new generation. Short and precise videos will make your business an effective presence among online platforms.

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International Conference on Management and Information Technology Muscat, Oman International Conference on Management and Information Technology aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results about all aspects of Management and Information Technology. It also provides the premier interdisciplinary forum for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns, practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted in the fields of Management and Information Technology.

2021 NOVEMBER

Oman International Conference Water Engineering and Management of Water Resources.

Muscat, Oman This conference provides an interesting opportunity to share ideas, discuss new technology, and explore innovative techniques and present the latest

research result with international colleagues, academics, engineers, policymakers and government organizations.

2021 NOVEMBER

International Conference on Business Models and Social Science Fanar Hotel and Residences, Salalah, Oman International Conference on Business Models and Social Science provides a platform for professionals involved in Business Models and Social Science to exchange knowledge and gain an insight into the state of the art in the current technology, techniques and solutions in Nano science and Nanotechnology as they have been developed and applied in different countries. Participants include a wide variety of stakeholders from research and academia, to industrial sectors as well as government organizations.

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NEWS Economic Reforms on the Fast Pace in Oman

Under the new Sultan, His Majesty Haitham Bin Tarik, Oman has entered on a fast track of economic reforms. Two key focus of his policy are raising standard of living in the country and facilitate a sustainable future for the people.

Mr Anwar Muqaibal, the Consul General of the Sultanate of Oman to Singapore, said in an interview “The 50th National Day marks a very special anniversary as we celebrate the outstanding achievements of our late and beloved leader, the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said. Guided by the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said,

Oman planted the seeds of growth 50 years ago with a dream to create a sophisticated globalised economy, and today it is harvesting a healthy crop that promises continued progress led

by His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik.

Within the Sultanate, Sultan looks into embarking on deeper economic reforms, to bring higher growth, employment opportunities, a sustainable future and to continue working towards raising the Omani people’s standard of living.”

He adds that “Oman 2040 Future Vision contributes to devising the country’s economic, social and cultural goals, in a manner that embodies a clearcut vision and great expectation towards a more prosperous future. Within that, the five-year plan for 2016-20 identifies five priority sectors for diversification: manufacturing, tourism, transport and logistics, mining, and agriculture and fisheries,” The plan also includes revising the work of government companies with a view towards upgrading their performance and efficiency, and enabling them to strongly contribute to the economic system.

In general, new economic policy targets to increase income from direct financial sources and indirect economic growth.

Exportation of crude oil and natural gas is the biggest contributor to the Omani economy. The sultanate also plans for allowing private companies in petroleum and gas sector also. Till now, major chunk of oil industry in Oman was under direct control of public sector companies.

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UAE-Oman bilateral trade reached Dhs48 B illion in 2019

5G Internet will be Supported by Ericsson in Oman

UAE-Oman bilateral trade reached its highest ever Dhs 48 Billion in 2019. By this Oman became second largest trading partner of UAE from GCC. according to statistics reported by state news agency WAM, this is total of trade happened in non-oil sector only.

Major reason for this as informed by UAE ministry of finance, UAE’s real estate market attracted more Omani investors, adding that the value of real estate projects owned by Omanis in the UAE totalled Dhs14bn in 2019, with 68 per cent of Omanis real estate deals being in the commercial sector, and 25 per cent in residential real estate projects.

Along with this, number of business licences also recorded persistent growth in consecutive years. Business licences given to Omanis was 4,066 in 2017, 5,360 in 2018, and 5,988 in 2019. Also, 10,403 Omani students were registered in public and technical schools in the UAE last year.

Oman’s Ministry of Finance got ready to tie up with Ericsson to establish a ‘centre of excellence’ for the development of 5G and the internet of things (IoT) in Oman. The Centre of Excellence in Communication Technologies (CoE) project is one of the components of the Oman Tawazun (Offset) Program, an economic tool that aims to diversify the country’s economy.

Ericsson, in support of Tawazun, will lead training and workshops in order to support development and research for telecommunication institutions and university students. This would be helpful for progress in the field of 5G and IoT applications in the country.

Also, digital laboratory programs will be implemented for school students aged 11 to 18 years, as well as access to online learning platforms.

“We have launched 16 projects within the Oman Tawazun program, designed to support the military and security sectors, the private sectors, and the development of human resources, We’re pleased to partner with Oman’s government agencies, Ericsson and Omantel to enhance our 5G core competencies and create a robust 5G ecosystem that will allow the Omani society to benefit from the anticipated growth opportunities 5G will bring” Dr. Dhafir Al-Shanfari from the Ministry of Finance said.

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