Khazzan Project for SME Development a big success

MUSCAT: In 2014, BP Oman and Fund for Development of Youth Projects (Sharakah) inked an agreement to launch the first edition of the Khazzan Project for SME Development.

The agreement gave Sharakah the responsibility to manage and promote the programme. Sharakah was tasked with the exercise of setting the right mechanism to identify eligible Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and then evaluate and support them. Over the last four years, 86 SMEs have benefited from the project and have improved their business performance.

Khazzan Project for SME Development is one of BP Oman Social Investment Programs. It aims to evaluate the performance of the selected SMEs, assess and identify areas for improvement and draw a structured plan for action to be taken over a period of 12-months.

The selection of the SMEs is based on certain criteria. They include businesses that have completed at least one and half years since starting operations, the accuracy and authenticity of the information provided about the business, and SME owners to be Omanis and fully dedicated to the project. Further, preference is given for projects in the manufacturing sector. 962 applications were registered for Khazzan Project for SME Development for the 4 batches of the programme. Over the years, there has been a significant increase of the number of applications received. In 2014 55 applications were received, 60 applications in 2015, 423 in 2016 and 424 in 2017.

Since the programme aims to guide the SMEs to implement best practices, the following methodology was conducted:

In the initial stage, licenses of operation and important documents are collected to get a better understanding of the business. Further, an assessment of the quality of the services and products and the administrative procedure is conducted.Consequently, strength areas and areas that needs improvement are identified.

Dedicated SME Development Specialist from Sharakah makes a site visit to the business premisesto inspect and assess the infrastructure and to verify the information and details submitted by the SME. During this stage, meetingsare held with the owners, employees and the customers or direct suppliers. This provides a clear picture of the style of work and the communication channels between the main stakeholders; employees, customers and suppliers.

In turn, a comprehensive assessment is conducted using Sharakah’s Business Performance Monitoring Tool (BPMT) which is a framework that contains 58 criteria to evaluate the SMEs.These criteria are classified into 7 different categories named (administration, communication, marketing & branding, finance, human resources, quality and policies). Shamsa Al Rawahi, BP Oman Social Investment Manager commented; “At BP Oman we are keen on introducing social investment programmes that complement existing programmes and contribute positively in the local social and economic development. We have identified three areas for social development and Khazzan Project for SME Development comes under the entrepreneurship development area. We are delighted that we have successfully completed 4 years of this project. Indeed, we are delighted of the positive impact this project has.”

Abdullah Al Jufaili, General Manager of Sharakah commented; “We at Sharakah are grateful and proud of the cooperation with BP Oman to implement this project. Over the last 4 years we have supported 86 projects and this program had a positive impact in the community and motivated the SMEs to work harder towards improvement and applying best practices. We believe in the uniqueness of the program in adding value to the selected SMEs through accurate observations and continues follow-up. The improvement and success of the beneficiaries was remarkable.”

BP Oman’s social investment strategy focuses on three main areas: education and training, entrepreneurship support, and sustainable energy. Since its launch in 2014, the programme has managed to reach more than 33,000 Omani people from all ages, providing equal growth opportunities for all.