Retail Agency unveils Retail Certification Programme

The Retail Agency has launched a new Retail Certification Programme, the first of its kind in the Sultanate. The training was funded by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and will be held at Muscat University. The objective of this training for employment programme, which targets 280 Omani job-seekers, is to prepare Omani nationals to work in different areas of retail and support Omanisation in the private sector. Retail is an expanding sector in the economy and is widely viewed as offering great potential. The initiative comes as part of PDO’S National Objectives programme, which aims to support the economy by creating work opportunities for Omani job-seekers, helping them to secure their futures. The programme is the first Omani training project that is dedicated and specialised exclusively in retail. The sector currently contributes to 8 per cent of the total GDP of Oman.

Commenting on the launch of the programme, Maimunah al Shebani (pictured), Founder and Managing Director of the Retail Agency said: “We, in cooperation with our partners, have worked hard to introduce this new form of training in Oman. The training is a mix of in-classroom and on job training, an apprenticeship approach that focuses on providing Omanis the skills needed to be successful in retail. We want to help Omanis develop a career in retail, not just secure a job.”

Shebani added that this model of training is the most suitable for the retail sector in the region and it is what is currently being used by Alshaya Retail Academy, the leading retail-training centre in the Middle East, which offers its programmes in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The Retail Agency is a privately owned Omani SME company that is the first of its kind to offer retailtraining programmes in Oman. The Middle East Council of Shopping Centres, the regional body representing the shopping centre sector in the Middle East and North Africa region, supports it.