Duqm Refinery plans to train youth
Duqm Refinery intends to train 600 Omanis with college diplomas or high school degrees, and wishes to give 100 scholarships to Omani students
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Duqm Refinery is currently working to attract the youth towards training, SMEs, and also global corporations with its InCountry Value Opportunities exhibition.
According to Duqm Refinery, the company allocated a minimum of “10 per cent project value reserved for purchases and services done by SMEs registered in JSRS, and 20 per cent of project value reserved for local sourcing of goods. Contracting companies are to achieve 10 per cent Omanisation targets”.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Eng. Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas, who said, “Work opportunities should first be announced within the country to attract national job-seekers or people who wish to move from their companies. You should announce all jobs locally first and exhaust all opportunities to hire local employees before looking for permits to bring in employees from outside the country.”
Furthermore, the company intends to attract global businesses that wish to work in Oman. Suh Sung-Min, Managing Director of Siyol al Samaa, which aims to open a factory in the area next year, said, “Korea has an enormous wealth of technology, which we hope to entice into entering the Omani market. We would like to open a factory in the special zone and partner with companies in Korea. This would mean that they, in turn, would bring their business here for the Duqm refinery or otherwise.”
Hussain Al Lawati, GM of Dome Engineering Services, said, “Right now, ‘Duqm’ is a magic word for businesses. We want to make the magic word ‘Oman’.”
The refinery also intends to train 600 Omanis with college diplomas or high school degrees, and wishes to give “100 scholarships to Omani students next year through the Higher Education Acceptance Centre”.
Jaber Al Mushaikhi, an applicant who drove from Ibra for the event, said, “I came here because of the name of the project, which was circulating among WhatsApp groups. I graduated high school in 2015 and really hope to be trained before working.”
Al Aufi believed ICV programmes were a crucial part of the national economy. He said, “In-Country Value programmes play an important role in further strengthening the national economy by providing the chance to SMEs to contribute to building mega projects. These programmes also prepare national manpower to work in major economic projects in the country as one of the main factors for its success.”
An official with Duqm Refinery said, “During the Duqm forum, we focused on people within the area and were pleased with what we found. Now, we want to expand to include persons and entities from all over the Sultanate.”
“Naturally, we do mean to prioritise persons from Al Wusta. We will take in people and companies from the area that meet the criteria, and then search elsewhere for other opportunities,” he added.
A statement by Duqm Refinery said, “A number of public and private institutions will take part in the Exhibition such as SEZAD, Takatuf Oman, Al Raffd Fund, the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Riyadah), and the three EPC global contractors.”