300 Omani women to make garments for global brands

Sept 25: Another door of opportunity has opened for Omani women for showcasing their skills. A total of 300 women from Salalah will be making garments for global brands as part of a National Objectives Programme designed by the Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).

The women, most of them school dropouts or school leavers, were recruited by the PDO as part of its ICV (In-Country Value Initiative) “to be able to earn a living and achieve self-sufficiency”, according to Director of National Objectives Programme, Maryam al Maskary.

“We, as part of our National Objectives Programme, an ICV initiative introduced in 2011 in response to His Majesty’s call to provide 50,000 opportunities for young people, have trained 300 women to take up jobs in a garment factory that make clothes for international brands. This is the result of the PDO management and the core team’s decision to go beyond oil and gas,” she told Observer.

PDO had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fashion Apparels LLC, which will employ these women after they successfully complete a six-month course at its factory in the Salalah Free Zone. The garments firm, which has opened a $20 million production unit on the site, plans to export 12 million clothing items a year. It aims to achieve full capacity by 2018 and employ 500 Omanis.

“Fashion Apparels, an international cloth manufacturer, needed 300 women to work in its factory. We recruited and trained the women. They might hire more people,” Maryam added. They will work on fabrics for leading brands such as Walmart, Macy’s, JC Penney, among others.

Under the local women’s tailoring training programme, they will be taught sewing machine techniques, designing skills, and English communication and computer skills. It is the latest move by the PDO to extend its job creation efforts beyond the oil and gas industry.

The programme, said to be the largest of its kind in which such a huge number of women are trained in garment manufacturing, will see women from Dhofar joining the league. The programme can be replicated in other areas of the country, according to her.

The tailoring course, which will include technical and on-the-job training, is being run by the Arabian Training Institute in Salalah.

The National Objectives Programme has so far created job opportunities for over 22,000 Omani youngsters. More young Omanis will be able to make use of these training and redeployment opportunities, and personality and skills development courses in days to come, said Maryam.

“We go through the PDO contracts and find opportunities and identify areas where Omanis can be fitted in. Then, we agree with the contractor to recruit these Omanis. The areas include mechanical, instrumentation, electricians, scaffolding, 6G, and the like. These training programmes are predominantly for school leavers or dropouts, and the young unemployed.”

More than 400 youngsters have been trained in ground handling and inflight service for the national carrier, Oman Air. More qualified personnel are awaiting training. They will be trained by qualified trainers at various Omani institutions for 12 months.

“As part of the National Objectives Programme, our target was to train 7,000 youngsters every year. Now, we have set a target of 50,000 locals to be empowered to take up jobs in various sectors in different capacities. We started off with Oman Air followed by leading automotive agencies to train the candidates.”

A total of 300 women from Salalah will be making garments for global brands as part of a National Objectives Programme designed by the Petroleum Development Oman