Oman LNG Development Foundation has continued to address various needs of the local communities in Oman thereby ensuring that its initiatives are sustainable, and continue to touch lives, says CEO Khalid bin Abdullah Al Massan. Excerpts from an interview

Can you share key strategies of Oman LNG Development Foundation?

Since inception, Oman LNG has placed significant attention on social investments as second to none. Thus, the company continues its leading efforts in the corporate social responsibility discipline; through the Oman LNG Development Foundation. As the company soars into its 20th year of successful operations, the company’s social investments follow the same path.

Oman LNG earmarks 1.5 per cent of its Net Income After Tax (NAIT) for social investment programmes. The scope of the funds are divided into three main streams: the Community Fund; which provides financial support for the community of Sur, where our world-class, three-train liquefaction plant is located. The second is the National Fund, targeted to serve beyond our community, focusing on Human Resource Development, and other National Projects spreading across the whole country, as well as Sponsorships and Donations. In order to ensure the sustainability of our presence and efforts, the Reserve Fund serves that purpose.

After nearly 5 years since its commencement, Oman LNG Development Foundation managed to leverage on social investment and value creation opportunities to provide the necessary focus to tackle large projects and funds to ensure its sustainability for generations to come. To date, Oman LNG Development Foundation has implemented more than 7,000 projects and initiatives across the Sultanate.

What were the achievements of ODF in 2019?

ODF is proud to have completed the construction of the National Autism Centre, the first of its kind in the Sultanate, which comes as part of company’s Gift to The Nation, an initiative occurring every 5 years. The Centre has been accommodated with equipment and services which will benefit hundreds of patients per day, in addition to building awareness on autism, as well as pursuing research and diagnosis on the disorder.

Oman LNG Development Foundation also funded the construction of an outdoor playground designated for children with disability, the first of its kind – at Al Sahwa Park, in Muscat. The kids’ corner is a one-off prototype, with a plan to enable 8,000 children to play in a safe recreational environment.

Championing the health sector in the Sultanate tops our priorities. In 2019, Oman LNG Development extended extensive support to this vital sector through equipping Kidney Dialysis equipment in Muscat, funding the Medical Simulation Centre that has boosted technical experience of the Oman Medical Specialty Board, and financing two CTG machines for Ibri Hospital. Partnerships were also fostered with the Royal Hospital through supporting the provision of medical equipment for the National Heart Centre.

The Foundation has shed great focus into innovation and technology, as it funded the Renewable Energy Competition in local schools, as well as the provision of renewable energy mobile units at their facilities. The Foundation has also raised its support to finance the establishment of educational STEM Lab in Muscat, financing the enhancement and improvement of IT laboratories at Sur College of Applied Science, as well as funding the Technical equipment for the fourth industrial revolution at Sur Vocational Training College; this demonstrates the Foundation’s commitment to invest in education. The Foundation also completed its phase 3 of the roads construction initiatives, paving roads to reach remote areas in the Sur. The sphere of social investment programme under Oman LNG continues to thrive in magnitude, as well as in purpose.

What are the main focus areas of ODF?

Our responsibility continues to address various needs of the local communities in Oman; and to complement the efforts of the Government, we ensure that our initiatives are sustainable, and continue to touch lives.

The Foundation strives to initiate, support, as well as create a strong base for social responsibility to ensure that as operators in our community, we continue to develop our societies. As such, the Foundation follows the vision of being a pioneer in its initiatives across industries. We pride ourselves by always saying, we do CSR for the sake of doing CSR and giving back to our community.

Can you highlight the key initiatives planned in 2020?

As we continue with our valuable contribution to our communities and beneficiaries, the Development Foundation is driven by clear strategic goals which focus on ensuring economic opportunities and lifelong learnings in the field of education, entrepreneurship and fostering innovation and technology. Additionally, we strive to promote healthy, active and creative citizens through initiatives focused on art and culture, social inclusion, sports, health and youth. Our final focus is on our environment, through our partnerships with pioneers in the industry to conserve, protect, as well as educate our community about the environment and how to conserve it.

Aside from our strategic focus, our Centre of Excellence enables us to partner with our community, as well as both local and international partners and further bolster our sustainable activities. We believe that a sustainable future is more successful when we collaborate, share knowledge and support one another as members of the globe. Thus, we believe with our stringent strategy and partners, we will continue to deliver impactful initiatives through Oman LNG Development Foundation.

We have also partnered with an Omani SME to study the impact of our projects, by delivering in-depth insights on our social performance by measuring the impact of our projects. Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a measurement valuing both financial and non-financial outcomes quantifies and monetises social impact in a clear and consistent way, enabling stakeholders to measure the achievement of social impact against three primary performance indicators, being appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency.

We have seen excellent result in some of the projects, remarkably in health sectors, where each US dollar that we have spent has generated in excess of $15 value for the community. Such results provide an elbow room for us to replicate such efforts in other places, which mandates us to revisit some of our projects and strategies.

You are the chairman of International Gas Research Conference (IGRC) 2020 National Organising Committee? What are key topics that will be discussed at the conference?

We are proud to host IGRC 2020 for its first time in the Middle East. This came after fierce competition from many countries who shared their bid to host the prestigious conference. Despite the challenges faced throughout that stage, we are rather proud of this accomplishment, to bring together our in-house efforts with local SME’s to host a world class conference. The IGRC is an opportunity for the gas industry experts to share knowledge in a platform that fosters the exchange of topics and findings in the scope of innovation and technology.

IGRC is a triennial event organised by International Gas Union (IGU) which highlights the research, development and innovation aspects of the ever-growing gas industry. Additionally, the event is expected to bring enormous socio-economic benefits to Oman and promote the country as an important foothold to hold conferences, exhibitions and events. It will also leverage the Sultanate’s strategic location and enhance the country’s profile as a preferred destination for doing business.

The themes of the IGRC 2020 focuses on Gas Pipeline and Distribution, Gas Supply, Cross-Cutting, different types of Gas Utilisation, and finally Environment and Sustainability. In a span of three days, many speakers from many countries will be presenting 30 interesting topics on the main themes of the conference. Face-to-face sessions and workshops will also take place focused on innovation, technology, advancements in the industry, a cleaner world, digital transformation, digital technologies, planning and management.  As a unique spin to the conference, we have ensured to have a presence at the conference as Oman, where sessions by local experts and companies will take place under the title ‘Omani Topics’ with a focus on the Gas Industry in Oman, as well as recent research and developments in the industry made by Omani expertise.

How is Oman LNG contributing to the country’s growth?

The LNG industry was developed and nurtured by the far-sighted vision of our late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, and since then we are blessed with unrivaled guidance from the government and support from our shareholders. With the reign of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, we trust our growth will further prosper and our legacy will continue.

The LNG industry in Oman has been a significant contributor to the socio-fabric of the Sultanate. We contribute significantly to government’s coffers through our vibrant social investment programme. Such a programme aims at steadily increasing quality of life for citizens and residents in the Sultanate of Oman addressing many economic and social needs. The export of Oman’s first cargo was in 2000 and since then, proceeds from the blossoming trade have supported, what some observers have described, as an ambitious diversification programme that has spurred growth in other important sectors of the economy including tourism, agriculture and the spread of vital infrastructure that support business and daily life.