The National Employment Programme (NEP), Mazoon Electricity Company, and the Industrial Innovation Academy today signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) to implement an initiative titled ‘Augmenting local content in the energy sector’.

The MoC seeks to enhance cooperation among the three parties to develop and implement requirements of local content in the energy sector by empowering Omani small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the sector.

The MoC provides for allocating to the SMEs a number of services required by the energy sector, along with support and follow-up from the Authority for Public Services Regulation (APSR).

The signing ceremony was held under the auspices of Sheikh Dr. Mansoor Talib Al Hinai, Chairman of the APSR and General Supervisor of the NEP.

The agreement was signed by Eng. Azhar Ahmed Al Kindi, Technical Director of the NEP; Eng. Salim Said Al Kamyani, the CEO of Mazoon Electricity Company; and Dr. Ayman Abdullah Al Fudhaili, the CEO of the Industrial Innovation Academy.

This MoC will achieve a number of objectives.

It will contribute to enhancing the participation of the private sector in the national economy by providing training and employment opportunities for Omanis, initiating training and operational programmes for Omani jobseekers and improving their readiness to engage in the labour market and boosting the system of self-employment in the Sultanate of Oman.

The MoC will also help localise some energy-related specialised jobs, besides supporting SMEs, and enhancing their contribution to the national economy based on innovation, in accordance with the objectives and priorities of Oman Vision 2040.

Dr. Mansoor Al Hinai said that there will be a supervisory committee entrusted with following up and implementing the initiative. The panel will also be tasked with getting the initiative and its main objectives endorsed, besides setting a time frame for the implementation plan, he added.

The committee will also be entrusted with the approval of criteria for listing SMEs, projects and services and the percentage of target contracts set to be allocated to selected institutions, addressing the challenges facing those institutions, monitoring and following up on the progress of work on the initiative and providing support for realising its objectives in accordance with Oman Vision 2040.

Eng. Azhar Al Kindi introduced a visual presentation on the initiative. The presentation highlighted the initiative and the value chains of the global energy sector, by comparing it with the energy sector in Oman. It also showcased the services provided at each stage of the supply chain and its organisational structure with the aim of understanding how it works.

Eng. Salim Al Kamyani said that the company strives to develop the energy sector in Oman and upgrade the in-country value (ICV) in the sector in line with its general trends, notably by supporting Omani small and medium enterprises.

Dr. Ayman Al Fudhaili, the CEO of the Industrial Innovation Academy said that the MoC constitutes one of the outcomes of the first phase of the Tawreed programme undertaken by the Academy as part of an agreement with the NEP.

He added that the Academy, according to this agreement, will work in conjunction with Mazoon Electricity Company and the NEP on following up on the allocation of target services to the SMEs.