Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has signed an agreement to provide vocational training for 20 women to design and produce recycled paper products and packaging.

Under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Omani Women’s Association (OWA), the one-month course will equip the ladies from Muscat with the practical and theoretical skills to find employment or start their own businesses.

The training will enable them to make a range of environmentally friendly goods, including boxes, notebooks, cards, files and bags. The scheme will be run as part of PDO’s Banat Oman social enterprise which has so far provided vocational training for more than 300 women from low-income backgrounds in skills such as tailoring, embroidery and dairy product manufacture.

The signing of the MoU took place at an official ceremony at PDO’s Knowledge World attraction in Al Qurum between Wafa Al Amri, President of the OWA Al Seeb branch, and PDO External Affairs and Value Creation Director Abdul-Amir Al Ajmi. He said: “We have a strong relationship with the OWAs across the country and are pleased to be able to partner with the OWA in Al Seeb on this training initiative which will provide a great opportunity for women to learn new vocational skills. PDO is a committed supporter of social investment and community development and is placing a greater emphasis on recycling materials to reduce waste, energy use and ecological harm. This agreement embraces both economic and environmental sustainability and I am confident it will give the women on the course a helping hand to make a decent living.”

Wafa Al Amri said: “The training will raise the standard of living for the women and their families in that it will enable them to convert recycled paper into beautiful merchandise which can be sold to support them. We hope that this project will be good start for the women to establish their own small businesses.”

The training will take place at Al Nawakhdha Training Services at Al Mawaleh.