Oman LNG community project promotes entrepreneurship

In continuing deliberate efforts for capacity building, Oman LNG will sponsor the training of twelve (12) female dressmaking entrepreneurs in a business management programme. The candidates, who are all drawn from Sur, recently finished a six-month training programme on tailoring.

The course, to be facilitated by the International Arab Institute for Technical Training in Sur, will teach the women some core subjects in management discipline such as accounting, marketing and other basic topics like English and computer science. The training programme, spanning six months, will cost RO 8,700.

The programme comes as additional phase to an earlier training also funded by Oman LNG that set up a workshop, provided tailoring equipment, textiles and other staples used by garment makers in the fashion industry for forty-eight women.

The twelve (12) selected women undertaking the new programme were part of this initial group and constitute the management team of the workshop.

The Training programme falls under Oman LNG’s Human Resource Development (HRD), a Fund that targets nurturing job-skills that are attractive to the labour market. Through its Human Resource Development Fund, Oman LNG has funded over 45 training programmes in the past nine years, resulting in employment of more than 1,500 Omanis, through self-employment and job secured employment.

Oman LNG has a vigorous Social Investment Programme addressing many areas of development in Oman but broadly divided into three main categories: a Community Fund that targets initiatives related to the Sur Community where its world-class, three-train liquefaction plant is located; a National Fund that covers a large swath of the company’s social development programme including Donations, National Projects and Human Resource Development, under which the current agreement is captured; and a Reserve Fund to address the future sustainability of the company’s social investment programmes.

Mohammed bin Khamis al Farsi, Director-General of Health Services in Sharqiyah South Governorate and Chairman of Sur Healthy City Project and Ali bin Saleh al Hashar, Oman LNG’s Chief External Relations Officer, signed the agreement.

“Oman LNG is committed to develop youth capacity and nurse them with the skills needed on the job market, which will ultimately enable the youth generation to secure a better and bright future. Upon completion of this training programme, the candidates will utilise their new-found talent profitably at Qalhat Tailoring Workshop. The course gives the ladies an opportunity to learn the important skills of managing the business successfully so they can derive greater value from it for themselves, their families and the community as a whole,” said Ali al Hashar.

Oman LNG is a joint-venture with a shareholding structure comprising the Government of Oman (51 per cent), Shell Gas BV (30 per cent), Total SA (5.54 per cent), Korea LNG (5 per cent), Mitsubishi Corporation (2.77 per cent), Mitsui and Co (2.77 per cent), Patex (Oman) Corporation 2 per cent, and Itochu (0.92 per cent).